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Dessert

Vermicelli Pudding

A baked pudding made from vermicelli, milk, eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla, and orange‑flower water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and milk 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 ↓

Vermicelli Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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.

Make the vermicelli milk

  1. Boil the milk in a saucepan.

  2. Gradually add the vermicelli, crushing it slightly in your hand, while stirring to prevent lumps.

  3. Boil gently for about 25 minutes until tender and thick, stirring frequently.

  4. Add the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract, then mix well.

  5. Let the mixture cool in a bowl.

  6. Beat in the eggs and whisk everything together.

Bake

  1. Butter a 3‑pint pie dish and pour in the mixture.

  2. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1 hour, placing the dish in a tin with a little water.

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. Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Vanilla + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,371 recipes

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

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  5. Vanilla + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Vanilla and sugar 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

Vermicelli
Forms the body of the pudding, thickening as it softens in the hot milk.
Eggs
Set when baked, binding the pudding into a firm, sliceable custard-like texture.
Milk
Cooks with the vermicelli to form the thick base and adds moisture.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, tender mouthfeel to the pudding.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the pudding and dissolves easily into the warm mixture.

The step that matters

Adding the vermicelli to the milk. Adding it gradually while stirring keeps the starch from clumping into lumps as it hydrates and thickens the milk.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, vanilla, milk, butter, sugar):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Peachfits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, vanilla, milk, butter, sugar. 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.

More vermicelli pudding recipes

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