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Dessert

Ratafia Pudding, Baked

A baked pudding made with spongecakes, sherry, jam, custard, and ratafia biscuits.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and biscuit match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 388 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Ratafia Pudding, Baked

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Assemble

  1. Slice the spongecakes and lay them in a buttered dish.

  2. Pour the sherry over the spongecakes and let them soak for a while.

  3. Spread a large spoonful of jam on top.

  4. Pour half a pint of custard over the jam.

  5. Let the pudding stand for 30 minutes.

Bake

  1. Cover the top with ratafia biscuits.

  2. Pour another half pint of custard over the biscuits.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Almond + biscuittop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together388 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  2. Sherry + almondtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together517 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Sherry + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,479 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  4. Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Sugar + biscuittop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Penny spongecakes
Form the base layer and soak up the sherry to become moist and tender.
Sherry
Moistens the sponge and adds a warm, aromatic flavour.
Custard
Sets during baking to form a smooth, tender custard layer around the cake.
Ratafia biscuits
Add an almond-flavoured, crisp-edged topping that softens slightly as the pudding bakes.

The step that matters

Letting the sponge soak before adding custard. The spongecakes need time to absorb the sherry so they stay evenly moist. Adding custard too early can leave dry patches, while the custard then bakes around them and sets into a smooth, cohesive layer.

“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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