Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Cake Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Assemble
Spread the slices of sponge cake with preserves or jelly.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and mix in sugar.
Pour the egg white mixture over the cake.
Bake
Place in the oven to warm thoroughly.
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.
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Sponge cake
- Forms the base layer that holds the topping and soaks up flavor.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a stiff foam that forms the light topping and sets when heated.
- Preserves or jelly
- Adds sweetness and fruity flavor between the cake and the topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the egg whites and helps stabilize the whipped foam.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Under-beaten whites stay runny and collapse in the oven, while over-beaten whites turn dry and grainy. Stiff, glossy peaks hold their shape and set into a light topping.
“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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