Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Prince Albert Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix the bread crumbs, sugar, and butter until well combined.
Add the beaten eggs, lemon juice, lemon rind, brandy, and preserves, then mix thoroughly.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake in the preheated oven until set and golden brown.
Serve warm with wine sauce.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Bread + brandytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together976 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, sliceable pudding as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and helps the pudding brown during baking.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and contributes to golden browning in the oven.
- Bread crumbs
- Provide the bulk and structure that the egg and butter mixture sets around.
- Brandy
- Adds aromatic flavour and a warm, boozy note to the pudding.
The step that matters
Bake until set and golden brown. Baking long enough lets the eggs coagulate so the pudding firms up, while stopping before it dries out keeps it moist. The sugar and butter brown as the surface heats. Pulling it too early leaves a loose, wet centre.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sugar, butter, egg, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Apricotfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, butter, egg, brandy. 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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