Skip to main content
Dessert

Puddings

A sweet pudding made with powdered sugar, butter, boiling water, brandy, and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Brandy and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,311 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Puddings

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Measure the boiling water and keep it warm on the stove.

  2. In a bowl, stir together the butter and powdered sugar.

Make the sauce

  1. Add the hot water gradually, using ½ teaspoon at a time, while beating hard.

  2. Ensure the mixture becomes a foamy mass without melting the butter.

  3. Slowly add the brandy, mixing well after each addition.

  4. Stir in the grated nutmeg.

Serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a sauce boat and place it in a saucepan of boiling water.

  2. Stir occasionally until hot, then keep it warm on the back of the stove until needed.

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. Brandy + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,311 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  2. Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,127 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together24,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

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

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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

Powdered sugar
Provides sweetness and bulk, dissolving into the butter to give the sauce its body.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, creamy texture when beaten with the sugar.
Brandy
Adds alcohol-based aroma and flavour that carries the sauce's character.
Boiling water
Adds moisture and heat that help the butter and sugar combine into a smooth, foamy mass.

The step that matters

Adding the hot water gradually. Adding the water too fast or letting the butter melt can cause the mixture to separate or turn oily instead of becoming light and foamy. Beating hard while adding the water in small amounts lets the fat emulsify with the sugar and water.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Clovefits less well
  4. Gingerfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, 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.

More brandy pudding recipes

Steamed 3 See all 19 →

You might also like

Brandy PeachesBrandy Peaches68 recipesBrandy CreamBrandy Cream21 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipes