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Dessert

Nesselrode Pudding

A chilled custard pudding with macaroons and candied cherries.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Nesselrode Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Combine milk, sugar, and egg yolks in a double boiler. Cook until it resembles a custard, stirring constantly.

  2. Let the mixture boil briskly while stirring.

  3. Prepare this a day in advance to chill thoroughly.

Assemble and freeze

  1. Fold in the beaten egg whites and whipped cream.

  2. Add the chopped macaroons and candied cherries, mixing gently.

  3. Pack the mixture into a mold and freeze for four hours.

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.

  1. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard base and add richness as they set during gentle cooking.
Egg whites
Whipped and folded in, they add airiness and a light, mousse-like texture.
Heavy cream
Whipped and folded in, it adds fat and a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and softens the texture of the frozen dessert.
Macaroons
Add crunch and an almond-like flavour contrast to the smooth base.

The step that matters

Cook the custard gently while stirring constantly. Egg yolks thicken at moderate heat but scramble if overheated or left unstirred. Constant stirring over a double boiler keeps the custard smooth and thick enough to hold the folded-in foams.

“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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