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Dessert

Tansey Pudding

A sweet pudding made with Jordan almonds, syrup, French roll crumb, nutmeg, brandy, tansy juice, butter, citron slices, cream, lemon juice, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,115 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Tansey Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Blanch and finely pound the Jordan almonds.

  2. In a stewpan, combine the almonds, syrup of looses, French roll crumb, nutmeg, brandy, tansy juice, butter, and citron slices.

  3. Pour in the boiling cream or milk and sweeten to taste.

Finish and cook

  1. Once cooled, mix in the lemon juice and beaten eggs.

  2. Cook by boiling or baking.

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. Almond + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  5. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set and bind the mixture into a firm, custard-like body when cooked.
Cream or milk
Provides moisture and richness, giving the pudding a soft, tender texture.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender mouthfeel.
French roll crumb
Soaks up liquid and adds body, helping the pudding hold its shape.
Jordan almonds
Contribute body, fat and a nutty flavour to the pudding.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the sweetness.

The step that matters

Cool before adding the lemon juice and eggs. Eggs scramble if they meet very hot liquid. Letting the mixture cool first lets the eggs blend in smoothly and set evenly during cooking instead of turning grainy.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, syrup, nutmeg, brandy, butter, cream, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, syrup, nutmeg, brandy, butter, cream, sugar. 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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