Why it works: Bread and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Milton Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
Scald the milk in a double boiler.
Add the finely scraped chocolate, sugar, and salt to the milk.
Once the chocolate has dissolved, pour the mixture over the bread crumbs.
Add the eggs and mix well.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish.
Bake until the center is firm, about 30 minutes.
Serve with a liquid sauce.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread crumbs
- Soak up the milk and form the body of the pudding.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that sets into a soft, creamy custard.
- Eggs
- Set when baked, giving the pudding its firm structure.
- Baker's chocolate
- Gives the pudding its chocolate flavour and color.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Bake until the center is firm. Egg proteins set as they heat, so underbaking leaves a runny center while overbaking can make the custard grainy and dry. Check the center rather than relying only on the time.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Chocolate Cream171 recipes
Bread Pudding153 recipes
Soft Ginger Bread85 recipes
Orange Potato Bread80 recipes