Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Marshmallow Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gelatine and egg whites
Dissolve gelatine in cold water.
Dissolve the pink tablet in a tablespoon of cold water.
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.
Add boiling water to the gelatine to fill a cup and beat into the egg whites.
Add the sugar and beat all together for 20 minutes or until stiff.
Colour and layer
Take one-third of the mixture and beat in the dissolved pink tablet.
Flavor the remaining white mixture as desired.
Prepare a mold by rinsing it with cold water.
Layer one-third of the white mixture in the mold, then add the pink mixture, and top with the remaining white mixture.
Smooth each layer with a knife.
Set and serve
Let stand several hours before serving.
Serve with plain or whipped cream.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid so the pudding holds its shape when unmoulded.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that gives the pudding its light, airy texture.
- Granulated sugar
- Stabilises the whipped egg white foam and adds sweetness.
- Pink tablet
- Colours the pink layer of the pudding.
The step that matters
Beating the sugar into the egg whites. Sugar must be beaten in until the foam is stiff and glossy. Under-beaten foam collapses and weakens the structure, so the layers may not hold their shape once the gelatine sets.
“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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