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Dessert

Fig Custard Pudding

A custard pudding made with figs, milk, eggs, gelatin, and sweet fruit jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,026 recipes. Both carry methyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Fig Custard Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the figs

  1. Soak the figs in warm water until soft.

  2. Split the figs.

  3. Dip each fig piece in jelly.

  4. Line a buttered mold with the jelly-coated figs.

Make the custard

  1. Heat the milk.

  2. Stir in the beaten egg yolks and sugar.

  3. Cook until thickened.

  4. Set the mixture aside to cool.

Combine and set

  1. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.

  2. Melt the soaked gelatin by adding 2 tablespoons of boiling water.

  3. Place the gelatin in a hot water bath until melted.

  4. Let the gelatin cool.

  5. Wait until the gelatin begins to congeal.

  6. Whip the gelatin into the beaten egg whites until thick and white.

  7. Quickly fold the gelatin mixture into the cooled custard until well combined.

  8. Pour the mixture into the fig-lined mold.

  9. Refrigerate until firm.

  10. Dip the mold in hot water.

  11. Loosen the pudding.

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. Fig + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Figs
Provide the fruit flavor and chewy texture that show through the set pudding.
Milk
Forms the base of the custard, giving body and creaminess.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard when cooked, adding richness.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks to lighten the pudding with air.
Gelatine
Sets the pudding so it holds its shape when unmolded.

The step that matters

Whip the gelatin into the egg whites while it is only beginning to congeal. If the gelatin is still liquid it deflates the whites, and if it has set firmly it forms lumps. Partly thickened gelatin blends smoothly and holds the foam's air.

Swap the fig

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figthe original
  3. Raisinfits about as well
  4. Lemonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar. 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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