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Dessert

Delmonico Pudding

A custard pudding made with macaroons, milk, eggs, gelatin, sugar, and brandy or sherry, chilled until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Gelatin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,778 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Delmonico Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the custard

  1. Lay the macaroons in a mold.

  2. In a bowl, rub the egg yolks and sugar together until creamy.

  3. Add the milk and heat in a double boiler until boiling.

  4. Dissolve the gelatin in cold water and mix it with the boiled mixture.

Assemble and chill

  1. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites and the brandy or sherry.

  2. Pour the mixture over the macaroons in the mold.

  3. Refrigerate overnight.

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. Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Brandy + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  3. Brandy + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

  4. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Macaroons or lady fingers
Form the base layer that soaks up the custard and holds the pudding's shape.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and add richness as they cook with the milk.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the mixture and give it an airy texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and adds creaminess.
Powdered gelatin
Sets the pudding so it holds its shape when unmolded and chilled.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and helps the yolks become smooth and creamy.

The step that matters

Dissolve the gelatin in cold water and mix it with the boiled mixture.. Gelatin must be fully dissolved before it is combined with the hot custard, or it can form lumps and set unevenly, leaving the pudding grainy and weak.

“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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