Why it works: Apple and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,207 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
Cake-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
Layer sponge cake in a pudding dish.
Add a layer of mixed raisins, currants, and citron (or stewed apples).
Repeat layers until the dish is nearly full.
Make the custard
In a bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and sugar.
Pour the custard over the layered cake and fruit.
Bake and serve
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until light brown.
Serve 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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Apple + winetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,207 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Apple + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,104 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Currant + appletop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,918 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Raisin + appletop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,920 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the custard so it holds together and turns firm when baked.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding moisture and softness.
- Sponge cake
- Soaks up the custard to form the soft, moist body of the pudding.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and contributes to browning on the baked surface.
The step that matters
Bake until light brown. Baking the custard until just set and lightly browned keeps it creamy; overbaking causes the egg proteins to tighten and the pudding to turn grainy and watery.
Swap the apple
The recipe marks apple as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, currant, milk, egg, sugar, wine, sauce):
- Figfits about as well
- Vanillafits about as well
- Applethe original
- Plumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, currant, milk, egg, sugar, wine, sauce. 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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