Why it works: Almond and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
English Almond Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Mix the butter and powdered sugar until smooth.
Add the chopped almonds, salt, orange-flower water, eggs, egg yolks, and cream. Mix well.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a buttered pie dish.
Cook in a bain-marie in the oven at 350°F (175°C) 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.
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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Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender, smooth texture to the batter.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to give the pudding its structure.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help the custard-like mixture set smoothly.
- Almonds
- Provide body, flavour and a fine texture to the pudding.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the pudding soft.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and dissolves smoothly into the butter.
The step that matters
Cook in a bain-marie until set. A bain-marie surrounds the dish with gently heated water, so the eggs set gently and evenly. Baking too hot or too long can make the eggs curdle and the texture grainy.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, almond, egg, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, almond, egg, cream. 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.
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