Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cream 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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until well combined.
Add the flour and grated nutmeg, mixing until smooth.
Stir in the brandy and sweet cream until fully incorporated.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a buttered deep pudding dish.
Bake in the preheated oven until set and lightly golden.
Serve hot, dusted with powdered sugar and accompanied by light sweetmeats.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Eggs
- Provide structure and set the pudding as they cook, giving it a custard-like body.
- Flour
- Gives the batter body and structure so it holds together while baking.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps it brown lightly in the oven.
- Sweet cream
- Adds fat and moisture, producing a richer, tender texture.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and a warm flavour note to the pudding.
The step that matters
Baking until set and lightly golden. Egg proteins set as they heat, so underbaking leaves the pudding wet and loose while overbaking makes it dry and rubbery. Watch for a firm centre and light colour rather than relying on time alone.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour, brandy, cream, butter):
- Nutmegthe original
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Capersfits less well
- Tarragonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour, brandy, cream, butter. 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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