Name: Bakewell Pudding
Ingredients: 6 oz. breadcrumbs; 1 pint milk; 2 eggs; 2 oz. castor sugar; 2 oz. almonds; 3 tablespoons jam; 4-5 drops almond extract

Why it works: Milk and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,800 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Bakewell 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.

Prepare the almonds and custard base

Blanch, chop, and pound the almonds.
In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs and milk, then beat in the eggs.
Add sugar, almond extract, and pounded almonds; mix well.

Assemble

Butter a pie dish and spread a layer of jam on the bottom.
Pour in half of the mixture, add another layer of jam, then the remaining mixture.

Bake

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 45 minutes.

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.

Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,800 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together77,875 recipes

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

Breadcrumbs: Soak up the milk and eggs to form a soft, sliceable custard body.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and set it into a custard as it bakes.
Milk: Moistens the breadcrumbs and keeps the custard tender.
Almonds: Add nutty flavour and a rich, slightly fine texture.
Castor sugar: Sweetens the custard and helps the top brown lightly.
Jam: Adds fruity sweetness and a layer of flavour through the pudding.