Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Almond Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the almonds
Pour boiling water over the almonds and let them sit until the skins come off easily.
Rub the almonds with a dry cloth, then pound them finely with the rose water.
Make the custard
Beat the eggs to a stiff froth and mix in the sugar.
Combine the egg mixture with the milk, pounded crackers, melted butter, and citron.
Stir in the pounded almonds and pour the mixture into a small pudding dish lined with pastry.
Bake and serve
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 30 minutes.
Serve cold for the best flavor.
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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main flavor and body of the pudding once pounded fine.
- Eggs
- Set the custard and give it structure as they bake.
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid that the eggs set into a tender custard.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a softer, silkier texture.
- Pounded crackers
- Add body and help thicken the custard mixture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the richness of the eggs and butter.
The step that matters
Beating the eggs to a stiff froth. Whipped eggs trap air that helps the pudding rise and gives it a light texture. Under-beaten eggs leave the pudding dense, while over-stirring after folding in the almonds can knock out that air.
“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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