Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Almond Pudding
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.
Prepare the base
Bring the cream to a boil.
Pour the hot cream over the bread crumbs.
Let the mixture sit until nearly cold.
Make the custard
Mix in the sweet and bitter almonds, pounding them into a paste with a little water.
Gradually stir in the egg yolks, then the egg whites, sugar, and butter.
Transfer the mixture to a porcelain-lined saucepan.
Stir continuously over low heat until thick, but do not let it boil.
When nearly cold, add the wine.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a dish lined with puff pastry.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
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.
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg yolks and whites thicken the custard as they set with gentle heat.
- Bread crumbs
- Soak up the hot cream and give the pudding body and a tender texture.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, carrying the flavor through the custard.
- Almonds
- Pounded into a paste, they supply the main nutty flavor and body.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture in the set custard.
The step that matters
Stir over low heat without boiling. Egg proteins thicken the custard gently, but if it boils they can curdle and turn grainy, so the mixture must be stirred constantly over low heat until thick.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, cream, egg, sugar, butter, wine):
- Almondthe original
- Pecansfits about as well
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Peasfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, cream, egg, sugar, butter, wine. 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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