Why it works: Nutmeg and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,377 recipes. Both carry alpha-terpineol, which smells lilac, floral. The science ↓
Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Soak the bread or cake crumbs in the scalded milk and let cool slightly.
Add the sugar, butter, beaten eggs, salt, vanilla, nutmeg, and raisins to the mixture.
Bake
Turn the mixture into a buttered baking dish.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for one hour, covering for the first thirty 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.
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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Nutmeg + raisintop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vanilla + nutmegtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,781 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Vanilla + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together782 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Eggs
- Bind the custard and help it set into a soft, sliceable texture when baked.
- Bread or cake crumbs
- Absorb the milk and form the body of the pudding.
- Milk
- Moistens the crumbs and forms the custard that bakes around them.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps with browning on the surface.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
The step that matters
Bake in a slow oven, covered for the first thirty minutes. Eggs set through gentle heat; high heat or no cover can overcook the custard into a curdled, rubbery texture and dry the top too quickly.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, vanilla, nutmeg, sugar, butter, egg):
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Peachfits better
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, vanilla, nutmeg, sugar, 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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