Name: Nut Pudding
Ingredients: 1 quart milk; 2 cups cracker crumbs; 3 eggs, well beaten; 1 cup sugar; ½ cup orange juice; 3 tablespoons almond or peanut meal; ¼ teaspoon salt

Why it works: Orange and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Nut Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Mix and bake

In a large bowl, combine the milk, cracker crumbs, beaten eggs, sugar, orange juice, almond or peanut meal, and salt. Mix all ingredients well.
Pour the mixture into a graniteware pan.
Bake in the preheated oven until nicely browned, or steam for one hour.

Serve

Serve with sauce of your choice.

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.

Orange + almondtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,125 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Milk + orangetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,696 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,800 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 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

Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, sliceable pudding as it cooks.
Cracker crumbs: Provide body and starch-like structure that thickens the milk mixture into a pudding.
Milk: Supplies liquid and richness, and sets with the eggs to form a custard-like texture.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the top brown during baking.
Almond or peanut meal: Adds nutty flavor and fat, giving the pudding a richer texture.