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 ↓
Apple 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 batter
In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Add the eggs and mix well.
Stir in the mace or nutmeg, stewed apples, grated bread, and wine.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a pudding dish.
Bake until set and lightly browned.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Apple + winetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,207 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Apple + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,790 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender, creamy texture when beaten with sugar.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps create a creamy base when beaten with butter.
- Eggs
- Set the pudding as they cook, giving it a firm, custard-like structure.
- Stewed apples
- Provide moisture, fruit flavor and body to the pudding.
- Grated bread
- Absorbs liquid and helps give the pudding its soft, cohesive texture.
- Wine
- Adds moisture and acidity, contributing flavor depth to the pudding.
The step that matters
Bake until set and lightly browned. Eggs firm up as they heat, so underbaking leaves the pudding loose and wet in the centre, while overbaking can make it dry and rubbery. Watch for a set centre and light browning on top.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, apple, bread, wine):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, apple, bread, 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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