Name: Quince Pudding
Ingredients: 2 cups quinces, peeled and finely chopped; 1 egg, beaten; 2 cups sugar; ½ teaspoon salt; 2 cups cracker crumbs; 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces; 1 cup water

Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Quince 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

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the pudding

In a bowl, combine the chopped quinces, sugar, cracker crumbs, salt, and beaten egg.
Dot the mixture with pieces of butter.
Pour the water over the mixture.

Bake

Bake for 1 hour.

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.

Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Quince + buttertop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together218 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,444 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

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

What each ingredient does

Quinces: Provide the fruit flavor and body of the pudding as they soften during baking.
Egg: Binds the mixture and helps it set as it bakes.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps give the pudding a tender, moist texture.
Cracker crumbs: Absorb liquid and give the pudding body and structure.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, contributing to moisture and flavor.