Why it works: Bread and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Bread 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.
Make the pudding
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, combine the bread crumbs, sugar, milk, ginger, salt, and egg yolks. Mix well until combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes until set.
Top with jelly and meringue
Spread jelly over the top of the baked pudding.
In a separate bowl, beat the reserved egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually add 2 tablespoons of sugar while continuing to beat until glossy.
Spread the meringue over the jelly and return to the oven until lightly browned.
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 + 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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Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes: they 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
- Absorb the milk and set into a soft, custardy base.
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard; whites whip into the meringue topping.
- Milk
- Provides liquid that the bread crumbs soak up and the eggs set in.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps the meringue become glossy and stable.
The step that matters
Beating the meringue to stiff peaks. Egg whites need to be beaten until stiff and glossy with sugar added gradually, so the foam holds its shape and browns evenly. Under-beaten whites weep or collapse on the jelly.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sugar, milk, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, milk, 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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