Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Golden Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Well butter a plain Charlotte mold.
Cover the mold with thin slices of citron.
Make and bake
In a bowl, mix the cake crumbs, melted butter, sherry, boiling milk, eggs, and vanilla until well combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared mold.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until set.
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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sherry + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together506 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Sherry + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cake crumbs
- Form the bulk of the pudding and absorb the liquid to give it body.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set when baked, giving the pudding its structure.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender, moist texture.
- Boiling milk
- Moistens the crumbs and helps them soften evenly into the custard base.
- Sherry
- Adds moisture and a distinctive wine flavor to the pudding.
- Citron
- Lines the mold, adding a candied fruit flavor and visual finish.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs set as they heat, so underbaking leaves the pudding loose and wet in the centre, while overbaking can make it dry and rubbery. Check for a firm centre within the stated time range.
“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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