Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Bread and Butter 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. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Butter both sides of the bread slices and layer them in a deep dish, filling it halfway.
Sprinkle currants over the bread and drizzle brandy on top.
Make the custard and bake
In a bowl, whisk together milk, vanilla sugar, granulated sugar, and beaten eggs.
Pour the custard mixture over the bread and butter.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until set.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the custard, binding the milk into a soft, sliceable pudding.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid custard that soaks into the bread and gives a tender texture.
- Bread
- Provides the structure that soaks up custard and holds the pudding together.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the bread brown lightly on its surfaces.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the custard brown slightly at the surface.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs set when heated to about 70 to 80°C, so the pudding must bake until just firm. Overbaking makes the custard curdle and turn grainy and watery.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, brandy, milk, vanilla, sugar, egg):
- Figfits better
- Apricotfits better
- Peachfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, brandy, milk, vanilla, sugar, egg. 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.
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