Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Farmer's Apple Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the apples
Stew the apples until tender, adding very little water if they are juicy.
While the apples are hot, mash them and mix in the butter and sugar to taste.
Let the mixture cool, then beat in the eggs.
Assemble and bake
Butter the bottom and sides of a deep pudding dish and coat it thickly with bread crumbs.
Pour the apple mixture into the dish and sprinkle more bread crumbs on top.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until set, then sift sugar over the top.
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.
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Apple + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,790 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tender apples
- Provide the bulk and fruity flavour of the pudding, becoming soft and mashable when stewed.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture to the apple mixture.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set it during baking to give the pudding its firm body.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a dry, crisp coating on the dish and top that helps the pudding hold its shape and brown lightly.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the apples and adds to browning on the surface once baked.
The step that matters
Let the mixture cool before adding the eggs. Eggs begin to set and can scramble if added to very hot apple purée, which leaves the pudding grainy instead of smooth and evenly set.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, bread):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Datesfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, bread. 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 apple pudding recipes
You might also like
Apple Bread Pudding21 recipes
Bread Pudding153 recipes
Soft Ginger Bread85 recipes
Apple Cake80 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.