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 ↓
Raspberry Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, rub together the butter and sugar until smooth.
Beat the egg yolks and whites separately.
Mash the raspberry jam and add the beaten egg whites, mixing until smooth.
Assemble
Butter a pudding dish and layer the bottom with bread crumbs.
Add a layer of the raspberry mixture, then continue alternating layers until the dish is full, finishing with bread crumbs on top.
Bake and serve
Bake for 1 hour.
Serve in the baking dish with raspberry fruit 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.
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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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Raspberry + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together70 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + raspberrytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,308 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
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
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a soft, custard-like texture when baked.
- Bread crumbs
- Provide the body of the pudding and absorb moisture from the jam and eggs.
- Raspberry jam
- Adds sweetness, fruit flavour and moisture to the layers.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness through fat.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and helps it blend smooth with the butter.
The step that matters
Mixing the beaten egg whites into the jam. Beaten egg whites hold air that gives lightness. Mixing them in too vigorously deflates the foam, so fold gently until just combined and the mixture is smooth.
Swap the raspberry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, bread, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Datesfits about as well
- Raspberrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, bread, egg. 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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