Why it works: Bread and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and 11,466 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
The Queen of Puddings
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Combine bread crumbs and milk in a bowl, then add the egg yolks.
Bake and top
Bake for a short time until the mixture becomes stiff.
Spread preserves over the baked mixture.
Beat the egg whites until frothy and spread over the preserves.
Sprinkle white sugar on top and return to the oven to brown for a few minutes.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 77,875 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread crumbs
- Provide the bulk and body of the custard base as they soak up milk.
- Egg yolks
- Set the custard when baked, giving it a rich, stiff texture.
- Milk
- Moistens the bread crumbs and forms the liquid base of the custard.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to form a light meringue topping that browns in the oven.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the meringue topping and helps it caramelise and brown.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites. Whites must be beaten until frothy so they trap air and hold a light, stable meringue that browns evenly rather than weeping or sinking.
“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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