Name: Bakewell Pudding
Ingredients: thin puff pastry; ½ cup firm jelly; 4 egg yolks; 1 egg white; ¼ cup sugar; ¼ cup butter; 12 sweet almonds, pounded; 8 bitter almonds, pounded

Why it works: Butter and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,245 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Bakewell Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cover a dish with thin puff pastry.
Spread a layer of firm jelly, about ½ inch thick, over the pastry.

Make the filling and bake

In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks, egg white, sugar, butter, and pounded almonds until frothy.
Pour the mixture over the jelly.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,245 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 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

Puff pastry: Forms a crisp base that holds the filling in the dish.
Firm jelly: Adds a sweet, fruity layer that sits beneath the filling and softens as it bakes.
Egg yolks: Add richness and help the filling set into a custard-like texture.
Egg white: Adds structure and lightness when beaten, helping the filling set.
Sugar: Sweetens the filling and contributes to browning in the oven.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a tender texture in the filling.
Almonds: Add nutty aroma and body to the filling.