Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 ↓
Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Soak the sliced French rolls in the cream or milk.
Add the beaten egg yolks, sugar, orange flower water, pounded macaroons, and white wine.
Cook and serve
Tie the mixture in a buttered cloth or place it in a basin.
Boil in water for 30 minutes.
Serve with wine sauce.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Orange + white winetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together730 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Cream + white winetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,760 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- French rolls
- Soaked in cream or milk, they absorb liquid and form the pudding's body.
- Cream or milk
- Supplies moisture that softens the bread and makes the custard-like texture.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the mixture as they set, giving the pudding its rich, tender structure.
- Macaroons
- Add almond flavour and sweetness, and their crumbs help bind the mixture.
- White wine
- Adds acidity and aroma that balance the sweetness of the pudding.
The step that matters
Boil in water for 30 minutes. Egg yolks set as they heat, so the water must stay at a steady boil and the pudding must be sealed in its cloth or basin. Too little heat leaves the custard runny, and water getting inside the cloth makes the pudding soggy.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, egg, sugar, white wine):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, egg, sugar, white 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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