Why it works: Pear and peach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 114 recipes mention both. Both carry hexanol, which smells green, fruity. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Make the base
Dissolve the butter in a saucepan.
Mix in the sugar, flour, and milk.
Stir over heat until boiling.
Cover and let stand on a warm part of the stove for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the egg yolks.
Add the whites and fruit
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them in.
Add vanilla essence and the mixed fruit, cut into small pieces.
Steam and serve
Pour the mixture into a buttered round mold, cover with greased paper, and steam for 45 minutes.
Turn out onto a dish and pour wine sauce around.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pear + peachtop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together114 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
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Vanilla + peachtop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together558 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Vanilla + peartop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together334 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Milk + vanillatop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together19,175 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Butter + milktop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together81,222 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Thickens the milk mixture and gives the pudding its set structure.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air that makes the pudding light.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind and set the custard as it cooks.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that gelatinizes with flour and keeps the pudding moist.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and contributes to browning and flavor.
- Butter
- Adds richness, flavor, and a tender mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg whites gently. Whipped whites hold the air that makes the steamed pudding light. Stirring vigorously deflates them, leaving a dense, heavy texture after steaming.
Flavor stand-ins for the pear
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, milk, egg, vanilla, peach):
- Blackberrybetter flavor fit
- Figbetter flavor fit
- Raspberrybetter flavor fit
- Pearthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, milk, egg, vanilla, peach. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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