Why it works: Cinnamon and cherry match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 551 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Cherry Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
In a warm bowl, cream the butter with a spoon.
Add the egg yolks one at a time, then mix in the caster sugar.
Once frothy, add the brown breadcrumbs and cinnamon, then fold in the whisked egg whites.
Layer and bake
Grease a large timbale mold and pour in a layer of the mixture.
Add a layer of preserved cherries, avoiding the sides, and repeat until the mold is full.
Cover the mold with a baking sheet and place hot embers on top.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
Serve
Invert onto a dish, cover the bottom with cherry sauce, and serve.
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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Cinnamon + cherrytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together551 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,147 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,784 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar and adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the batter and help bind it into a set, custardy structure.
- Egg whites
- Whisked and folded in to lighten the batter and help it rise and set.
- Brown breadcrumbs
- Provide bulk and absorb moisture, giving the pudding body.
- Caster sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps tenderise its texture.
- Preserved cherries
- Add fruit flavour and moisture distributed through each layer.
The step that matters
Layering the cherries. Cherries that sit against the mold sides or are not well drained can release juice and make the pudding wet or uneven. Keeping them in the centre and draining them well helps the layers set firmly.
Swap the cherry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, cinnamon, sauce):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Cherrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, cinnamon, sauce. 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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