Skip to main content
Dessert

Coffee Pudding

A custard-based pudding flavored with coffee, ratafias, and brandy, set with gelatin and topped with wine jelly and silver leaf.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Coffee Pudding

Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Coffee Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mold

  1. Line a mold.

  2. Decorate the mold.

Make the pudding

  1. Soak the sponge cake and ratafias in custard and coffee.

  2. Add sugar, brandy, vanilla, and lightly whipped cream.

  3. Stir in the dissolved gelatin.

  4. Pour the mixture into the mold to set.

Serve

  1. Once set, turn out the pudding.

  2. Decorate with chopped wine jelly and silver leaf.

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.

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.

  1. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Brandy + winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,427 recipes

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

  3. Coffee + vanillatop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,391 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  5. Vanilla + brandytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

Sponge cake
Soaks up the custard and coffee, giving the pudding a soft, absorbent body.
Ratafias
Soak up coffee and custard, adding almond-like flavour and a softer crumb.
Gelatine
Sets the liquid mixture so the pudding holds its shape when turned out.
Cream
Adds fat and richness, giving a smooth, creamy texture.
Custard
Adds richness and body, softening the sponge cake and ratafias.

The step that matters

Stir in the dissolved gelatin. Gelatine must be fully dissolved and evenly mixed before pouring; lumps or uneven distribution can leave pockets that fail to set, and adding it to a mixture that is too hot can weaken its setting power.

“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.

You might also like

Vanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesCoffee Ice CreamCoffee Ice Cream91 recipesBrandy PeachesBrandy Peaches68 recipesCoffee CustardCoffee Custard27 recipes