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Dessert

Rice Pudding

Rice pudding made with rice, milk, sugar, eggs, gelatin, cream, and whipped cream, baked and set with preserves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 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 ↓

Rice 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 and bake

  1. Wash the rice in two waters and drain it.

  2. Add the milk, sugar, salt, and nutmeg to the rice.

  3. Let the mixture stand for 45 minutes.

  4. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until golden brown.

Make the gelatine mixture

  1. Soak the gelatine in cold water until soft.

  2. Add the gelatine to the boiling cream and sugar.

  3. Stir until dissolved.

  4. Strain the mixture into a tin.

  5. Place the tin in a bowl of ice.

  6. Wait until the mixture begins to set.

Assemble and chill

  1. Fold in the whipped cream gently.

  2. Place a tablespoon of preserves or jelly in the bottom of molds.

  3. Fill the molds with the mixture.

  4. Keep the molds on ice until ready to serve.

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. Rice + nutmegtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Rice
Softens and swells as it absorbs liquid, giving the pudding its body and chewy texture.
Milk
Provides the main liquid and moisture, and a creamy, mild base for the pudding.
Gelatine
Sets the chilled mixture so it holds its shape when turned out or served.
Whipped cream
Adds lightness and richness, trapping air to make the set pudding softer and silkier.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps balance the flavour of the milk and cream.

The step that matters

Wait until the mixture begins to set before folding in the whipped cream. If the gelatine mixture is still too warm and runny, it will deflate the whipped cream and thin the texture. Letting it thicken slightly keeps the air in the cream and gives an even, light set.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, sugar, egg, cream):

  1. Cinnamonfits about as well
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Turmericfits less well
  4. Gingerfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, sugar, egg, cream. 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.

More rice pudding recipes

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