Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Sweetmeat Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the batter
Beat the egg yolks and whites separately.
In a bowl, combine the beaten egg yolks, preserves, sugar, and melted butter.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake until set.
Serve hot.
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 + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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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
- Eggs
- Provide structure and lift when beaten and folded, setting the pudding as it bakes.
- Preserves
- Add sweetness, fruit flavour and moisture to the custard-like batter.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown slightly as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a tender texture and smooth mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold air from beating. Stirring them vigorously deflates the foam, so the pudding bakes denser and less light. Folding keeps the air trapped for a softer set.
“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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