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Dessert

Frozen Pudding

A frozen custard pudding flavored with raisins, almonds, and whisky.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Frozen Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Mix the custard, raisins, and chopped almonds in a bowl.

  2. Pour the mixture into a freezer.

Freeze and finish

  1. When it begins to freeze, stir in the whipped cream.

  2. Stir well every few minutes to prevent the fruit from falling to the bottom.

  3. Season with whisky to taste.

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. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Cream + whiskytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together258 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  4. Almond + whiskytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Raisin + whiskytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together112 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Rich custard
Forms the creamy base that freezes into a smooth, rich texture.
Whipped cream
Adds air and lightness, softening the frozen texture.
Raisins
Add chewy pieces and sweetness throughout the frozen pudding.
Blanched almonds
Add crunch and nutty flavor that contrasts with the creamy base.

The step that matters

Stir every few minutes while freezing. Raisins and almonds are denser than the custard and sink as it freezes. Regular stirring keeps them suspended so the pudding sets evenly rather than separating into a fruity layer at the bottom.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, cream, whisky):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Raspberryfits about as well
  4. Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, cream, whisky. 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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