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 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.
Make the custard
Warm the milk in a saucepan, but do not let it boil.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Stir the creamed mixture into the warm milk.
Remove from heat and beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Stir the beaten eggs into the milk mixture.
Add the vanilla and brandy.
Bake
Cut the stale bread into half‑inch square pieces and stir them in last.
Place the pudding pan in a larger pan filled with boiling water.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Sugar and vanilla 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 into a tender, sliceable structure as they cook.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that carries the custard and softens the bread.
- Bread
- Soaks up the custard and gives the pudding its body and crumb.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps soften the custard's texture.
The step that matters
Stirring the beaten eggs into the milk mixture. Eggs can scramble if they meet hot liquid too abruptly. Removing the pan from the heat first and stirring steadily spreads the heat gently so the custard stays smooth.
“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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