Why it works: Butter and biscuit are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,009 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
Baked Gooseberry Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pulp
Stew the gooseberries in a saucepan of water until they become pulpy.
Press the pulp through a coarse sieve to obtain 1 pint of juice.
Make the filling
Beat the juice with the egg yolks and strained egg whites.
Add the butter and sweeten to taste.
Mix in the crumbs from the roll or Naples biscuits for consistency.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a pie crust and bake until set.
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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Butter + biscuittop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,009 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Sugar + biscuittop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,874 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gooseberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour and tartness once stewed into pulp and juice.
- Eggs
- Set the custard-like filling as they cook, giving it body and structure.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the filling.
- Crumbs from roll or naples biscuits
- Absorb liquid and thicken the mixture to a firmer consistency.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the tart gooseberry juice and balances its acidity.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Egg proteins coagulate as the custard heats, so underbaking leaves the filling runny while overbaking can make it curdled and weeping. Baking only until the centre just wobbles gives a smooth, set texture.
“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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