Why it works: Bread and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and 11,466 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
The Queen of Puddings
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.
Prepare the base
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Combine bread crumbs, milk, and egg yolks in a bowl.
Bake until the mixture becomes stiff.
Top and brown
Spread preserves over the baked mixture.
Beat egg whites until frothy and spread over the preserves.
Sprinkle white sugar on top and brown in the oven for a few 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.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 77,875 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Bread crumbs
- Form the bulk of the pudding and soak up the milk and eggs to set into a soft body.
- Milk
- Moistens the bread crumbs and carries the eggs through the custard-like base.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help the mixture set firm when baked.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to a froth, they form a light topping that puffs and browns in the oven.
- White sugar
- Sprinkled on top, it caramelizes and browns under the heat for a golden finish.
- Preserves
- Add fruit sweetness and acidity and a layer of flavor between the base and the topping.
The step that matters
Baking the base until stiff. Underbaking leaves the custard loose and wet, so the preserves and meringue sink into it. Baking until the mixture is set gives the layers a firm base to rest on.
“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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