Why it works: Butter and cream 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 ↓
Washington 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 filling
Scald and pulp the apples.
Add one well-beaten egg for each large apple.
Mix in butter, cream, lemon peel, sugar, and brandy.
Bake
Bake in a thin pastry in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until set.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Apple + brandytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,291 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Provide the bulk and fruity flavor of the pudding once pulped.
- Eggs
- Set the pulped apple mixture into a firm, sliceable custard as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, tender mouthfeel to the filling.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the texture of the set pudding.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs set as they heat, so the pudding should be removed once firm to avoid a curdled, watery texture. Overbaking makes eggs tighten and weep liquid.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, egg, butter, cream, sugar, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, egg, butter, cream, sugar, 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.
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