Why it works: Almond and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,115 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Almond Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat the sweet and bitter almonds with water until fine.
Mix in the butter, eggs, cream, brandy, nutmeg, and sugar.
Bake and serve
Butter some cups and fill them halfway with the mixture.
Bake the puddings until set.
Serve with butter, wine, and sugar.
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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Almond + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,115 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main body and rich nutty flavour of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set the mixture when baked, giving the pudding its structure.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a rich, tender texture and smooth mouthfeel.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the pudding soft and smooth.
The step that matters
Bake the puddings until set. Eggs set as their proteins coagulate with heat. Underbaking leaves the pudding runny, while overbaking makes it firm, dry, and grainy.
“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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