Name: Chocolate Bread Pudding
Ingredients: 2 cups stale breadcrumbs; 4 cups scalded milk; ⅔ cup sugar; 2 eggs; 2 squares chocolate (grated); ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Chocolate Bread 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 the custard

Soak the breadcrumbs in the hot milk for 30 minutes.
In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, eggs, grated chocolate, salt, and vanilla.
Combine the soaked breadcrumbs with the mixture.

Bake and serve

Pour into a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 30 minutes.
Serve with hard sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,187 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,128 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Stale breadcrumbs: Absorb the hot milk and provide the bulk that holds the pudding together.
Milk: Soaks into the breadcrumbs and supplies the liquid that sets into a custard-like texture.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and set as it bakes, giving the pudding its firm, sliceable structure.
Sugar: Sweetens the pudding and contributes to browning on the surface as it bakes.
Chocolate: Provides the main flavor and color of the pudding.

“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.