Why it works: Butter and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,245 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Almond Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line a pudding dish with rich pie crust.
Make and bake the pudding
In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, powdered sugar, rosewater, powdered cracker, melted butter, shredded citron, and chopped almonds.
Pour the mixture into the lined dish and bake until set.
Rest and serve
Let the pudding stand for several hours before serving.
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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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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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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Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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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
- Bind the mixture and set into a firm, sliceable custard when baked.
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main body and nutty flavour of the pudding.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for a rich, tender texture and mouthfeel.
- Powdered cracker
- Adds dry crumb that helps absorb moisture and give body to the filling.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and dissolves easily into the mixture.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs set as their proteins coagulate with heat; underbaking leaves a runny centre, while overbaking makes the custard grainy and dry. Watch for a firm edge and a centre that barely wobbles.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter):
- Almondthe original
- Pecansfits about as well
- Filbertfits less well
- Walnutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter. 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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