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 ↓
Prune Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
Pit the hot stewed prunes and let them cool.
In a bowl, beat the cooled prunes with the powdered sugar until well combined.
Gently fold in 6 beaten egg whites until fully incorporated.
Transfer the mixture to a serving dish and refrigerate until set.
Serve
Serve cold with cream, whipped or unwhipped, as preferred.
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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Sugar + eggtop 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
- Stewed prunes
- Provide the main fruit flavour, sweetness and a soft, moist body to the pudding.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the prune purée and dissolves smoothly into it for a fine texture.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into foam, they lighten the mixture and help it set into a airy, spoonable structure.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives the pudding its lightness. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, so folding gently keeps the pudding light and airy once chilled.
“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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