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Dessert

Tutti Frutti Pudding

A chilled pudding made with boiled rice, figs, ginger, cherries, sherry, gelatine, whipped cream, and cold water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Rice and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Tutti Frutti Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Dissolve gelatine in slightly warmed cold water.

Make the pudding

  1. Once cooled, mix in the rice, figs, ginger, cherries, and sherry.

  2. Gently fold in the whipped cream last.

  3. Pour the mixture into a mold and refrigerate until set.

Serve

  1. When cold, unmold onto a dish and serve with additional whipped cream and sherry.

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. Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,374 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Fig + sherrytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  3. Milk + figtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Rice + gingertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,196 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Fig + gingertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together208 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Gelatine
Sets the mixture so the pudding holds its shape when unmolded.
Whipped cream
Adds lightness and richness, giving the pudding a soft, airy texture.
Rice
Adds body and a soft, tender texture to the pudding.
Figs
Provide sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
Sherry wine
Adds aroma and a mild acidity that balances the sweetness.

The step that matters

Gently fold in the whipped cream last. Whipped cream is full of trapped air. Stirring it vigorously deflates the foam, so the pudding becomes dense rather than light. Folding keeps the air bubbles intact.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, cream, fig, sherry, wine):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, cream, fig, sherry, wine. 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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