Skip to main content
Dessert

Saxon Pudding

A layered sponge cake and macaroon pudding with almonds, sherry, and vanilla, baked in a charlotte mold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Almond and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Saxon Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mold

  1. Blanch, peel, shred, and bake the almonds until nicely browned.

  2. Butter a plain charlotte mold and decorate the bottom with halves of cherries and strips of angelica.

  3. Sprinkle the sides thickly with the prepared almonds.

Assemble and steam

  1. Fill the mold with alternate layers of slices of sponge cake, pieces of macaroon, and ratafias.

  2. Beat the eggs well, then add the milk, cream, sherry, and a few drops of vanilla.

  3. Pour this mixture into the mold, cover with buttered paper, and let it stand for one hour.

  4. Steam for 1.5 to 1.75 hours, then serve with fruit syrup or a suitable sauce.

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 + vanillatop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Almond + angelicatop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together135 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  4. Angelica + vanillatop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together170 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  5. Sherry + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together506 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the custard as they cook, giving the pudding its firm, sliceable structure.
Sponge cakes
Soak up the custard and give the pudding a soft, cake-like body.
Macaroons
Absorb the liquid and add a chewy, almond-scented texture between the layers.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding moisture and softness.
Cream
Adds richness and fat, giving the custard a smoother, silkier texture.
Almonds
Add toasted nutty flavor and crunch to the mold's exterior.

The step that matters

Steam for 1.5 to 1.75 hours. Gentle, steady steam cooks the egg custard evenly so it sets without curdling or becoming watery. Too much heat makes eggs tough and grainy, so keep the water at a simmer.

Swap the angelica

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, cream, sherry, almond, vanilla):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Angelicathe original
  4. Peppermintfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, cream, sherry, almond, vanilla. 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.

You might also like

Vanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesAlmond Sponge CakeAlmond Sponge Cake26 recipesAlmond CustardAlmond Custard22 recipesAlmond WafersAlmond Wafers22 recipes