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Dessert

Cabinet Pudding

A gelatin-based pudding made with macaroons, maraschino cherries, pecans, eggs, sugar, grape juice, and whipped cream topping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and gelatin 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 ↓

Cabinet Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Beat the yolks of the eggs and sugar together.

  2. Dissolve the gelatin in warm water.

  3. Add the dissolved gelatin to the egg mixture along with the grape juice.

  4. Place the mixture in a double boiler.

  5. Cook until thick.

Assemble and chill

  1. Once cool, fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.

  2. Add the crumbled macaroons, cherries, and pecans.

  3. Pour the mixture into a mold.

  4. Refrigerate until congealed.

Serve

  1. Place the pudding on a platter.

  2. Cover with whipped cream and additional cherries if desired.

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. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Pecans + grapetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together552 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Pecans + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,280 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

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

  5. Sugar + grapetop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,490 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Macaroons
Crumbled macaroons add body and a sweet almond flavor that give the pudding its character.
Eggs
Egg yolks thicken the custard when cooked, and whipped whites lighten the set pudding.
Gelatin
Gelatin sets the mixture so it holds its shape when chilled in a mold.
Sugar
Sugar sweetens the custard and balances the tartness of the grape juice.
Grape juice
Grape juice supplies liquid and fruity flavor to the custard base.
Pecans
Chopped pecans add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavor to the soft pudding.

The step that matters

Cook the custard until thick. Egg yolks thicken as they heat, but overheating can curdle them. Cooking gently in a double boiler keeps the custard smooth before the gelatin sets it.

Swap the grape

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pecans, sugar, egg, gelatin):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Pumpkinfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Grapethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pecans, sugar, egg, gelatin. 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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