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Dessert

Jerusalem Pudding

A sweet pudding made with gelatin, dates, figs, rice, cream, and powdered sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 324 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Jerusalem Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit and gelatin

  1. Dissolve gelatin in cold water.

  2. Soak gelatin for ten minutes.

  3. Add chopped dates and figs.

  4. Cook the fruit in a double boiler until smooth.

Make the rice and cream

  1. Boil rice in water for fifteen minutes, then drain the rice.

  2. Whip the cream.

  3. Mix the whipped cream with the rice and powdered sugar.

Combine and serve

  1. Add the cooked fruit and gelatin mixture.

  2. Flavor the mixture with vanilla.

  3. Mold the pudding.

  4. Serve with plain cream.

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.

  1. Fig + vanillatop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together324 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Dates + figtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together318 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  3. Gelatin + creamtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Dates + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together218 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Gelatin
Sets the pudding so it holds its shape when molded.
Cream
Whipped, it adds lightness and richness to the texture.
Rice
Cooked until soft, it adds body and bulk to the pudding.
Dates and figs
Provide sweetness, moisture and a soft, fruity texture once cooked smooth.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the whipped cream and dissolves easily into it.

The step that matters

Dissolving the gelatin fully. Gelatin must dissolve completely before it is combined with the fruit. Undissolved granules leave gritty specks and uneven setting, so the pudding may not firm evenly in the mold.

Swap the dates

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gelatin, fig, rice, cream, sugar, vanilla):

  1. Coconutfits better
  2. Peachfits better
  3. Apricotfits better
  4. Datesthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against gelatin, fig, rice, cream, sugar, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

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