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 ↓
Fancy Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the bread
Pour 1 cup of milk over the sliced French bread.
Make the egg mixture
In a bowl, mix the remaining 1 cup of milk with the beaten eggs, sugar, and cinnamon.
Fry and serve
Dip the bread slices in the egg mixture.
Fry the dipped slices in butter or lard until golden brown.
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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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- French bread
- Provides the structure that soaks up the custard and holds its shape.
- Milk
- Moistens the bread and makes up the liquid base of the custard.
- Eggs
- Bind the custard and help it set, giving the pudding body.
- Butter or lard
- Fat for frying that promotes browning and adds richness to the outside.
The step that matters
Frying the dipped slices. Frying over moderate heat lets the outside turn golden brown before the custard inside sets. Excess heat can scorch the sugar and the surface before the egg in the center is cooked.
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, milk, egg, sugar, butter):
- Cinnamonthe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleyfits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, milk, egg, sugar, butter. 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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