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Dessert

Prune Pudding

A baked dessert made with prunes, eggs, sugar, milk, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Prune Pudding

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Prune 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.

Make the prune base

  1. Cook prunes in minimal water until soft, then rub through a colander.

  2. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into the prunes.

  3. Mix sugar and cream of tartar, sift into the prune mixture.

  4. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for a few minutes at 350°F (175°C) to set the eggs.

Make the custard

  1. For the custard, scald milk in a double boiler.

  2. Beat egg yolks until light, then mix in sugar.

  3. Pour scalded milk into the egg mixture, then return to the double boiler.

  4. Heat until just scalding, remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.

  5. Let cool before serving.

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.

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  4. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

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

  5. Cream + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Prunes
Provide the main flavour and body of the pudding base once puréed.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they give the base its light, airy structure.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they heat and set, giving it a smooth, rich texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, setting with the yolks into a creamy texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the pudding and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites.

The step that matters

Heating the custard. Egg yolks thicken as they warm, but if the mixture gets too hot it can curdle or turn grainy. Heat gently in a double boiler and stop once it is just scalding.

“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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