Why it works: Butter and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,301 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Jubilee Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Cut the sponge cake into thin slices.
Butter one side of each slice and spread the other side with marmalade or jam.
Assemble and soak
Layer the slices in a buttered round mold, buttered side down.
Pour 3 cups of custard over each layer and repeat until the mold is full.
Let the pudding soak for 1 hour.
Bake and serve
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Turn out before serving.
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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Butter + orangetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stale sponge cake
- Forms the structure, soaking up custard to hold the layers together.
- Custard
- Provides moisture and sets during baking to form a soft, creamy body.
- Orange marmalade or apricot jam
- Adds sweetness and fruity flavour between the cake layers.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the cake slices brown lightly and release from the mold.
The step that matters
Letting the pudding soak. The stale cake needs time to absorb the custard fully; soaking before baking gives an even, moist texture rather than dry pockets or a soggy base.
“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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