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 ↓
Bread Pudding Without Milk
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Pour boiling water over the dry bread pieces and let them soften.
Mix in the fruit, melted butter, egg yolks, spice, and sugar.
Bake and finish
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for 20 minutes.
Spread the beaten egg whites on top and brown nicely before serving.
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 + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dry bread pieces
- Form the body of the pudding, soaking up liquid to become soft and tender.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help bind the pudding as it sets.
- Egg whites
- Form a light topping that puffs and browns in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender texture to the pudding.
- Fruit
- Adds moisture, sweetness and fruity flavor throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Browning the beaten egg whites. Egg whites need to be beaten to soft peaks and spread over the top so they cook into a set, golden layer; underbeaten whites stay runny and overbeaten whites turn dry and grainy.
“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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