Why it works: Raisin and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,377 recipes. Both carry alpha-terpineol, which smells lilac, floral. The science ↓
Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the base
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Grate the bread into a pudding dish.
Measure and pour in the milk.
Separate the egg yolk and white.
Mix raisins into the milk and bread.
Make the custard
Add sugar to the egg yolks.
Grate nutmeg into the yolk and sugar mixture.
Beat the mixture well.
Combine the yolk mixture with the bread and milk.
Bake and finish
Bake the mixture.
Check the pudding with a spoon. If it is milky, it needs more cooking.
Beat the egg white until stiff. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar to the egg white.
Spread the beaten egg white and sugar over the top.
Brown the top slightly in the oven.
When done, it is ready to serve.
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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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + nutmegtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,997 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread
- Forms the body of the pudding, soaking up the milk and custard to set into a soft crumb.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that softens the bread and, with the egg, sets into a custard.
- Egg
- Yolks thicken the custard as they set, while the whipped white forms a light, browned topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and, whipped with the egg white, helps the topping hold its shape and brown.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Checking the pudding for doneness. Egg custard sets as its proteins coagulate with heat. If the centre still looks milky and wet, the egg has not fully set, so the pudding needs more time in the oven before serving.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, milk, egg, sugar, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Lemonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, milk, egg, sugar, nutmeg. 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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