Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the custard base
Soak the bread crumbs in milk for 1 hour.
Mash the soaked bread crumbs to a pulp and mix well with the raisins, melted butter, and the yolks of the eggs.
Bake and serve
Beat the egg whites to a froth and fold them into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 40 minutes.
Serve with wine sauce, hot or cold, according to taste.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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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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Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread crumbs
- Form the body of the pudding and soak up the milk to become tender.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and, once the whites are whipped, lighten and set the pudding.
- Milk
- Softens the bread and provides moisture for a tender, custard-like interior.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, contributing to a moist texture and browning.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whites beaten to a froth trap air that helps lift the pudding. Overmixing or stirring vigorously when folding deflates the foam, leaving a denser result.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, milk, butter, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, milk, butter, egg. 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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