Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Custard Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Assemble
Line a large dish with pieces of cake.
Fill the dish with boiled custard.
Top and bake
Whip the egg whites until stiff, then gradually beat in the sugar.
Pour the whipped egg whites over the custard.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for a short time.
Let it cool 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.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff foam, they set into a light, airy meringue topping as they bake.
- Boiled custard
- Forms the creamy, set layer that soaks into the cake and gives the pudding its body.
- Pieces of cake
- Provide a soft, absorbent base that holds the custard and gives structure to each serving.
- Sugar
- Stabilizes the whipped whites and adds sweetness to the meringue topping.
The step that matters
Whipping the egg whites. Egg whites must be beaten until stiff and the sugar added gradually so they hold air. Under-whipped or deflated whites won't form a light topping and may weep or sink into the custard.
“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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