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Dessert

Vermicelli Pudding

A sweet pudding made with milk, vermicelli, sugar, butter, almonds, cinnamon, lemon peel, brandy, eggs, and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Vermicelli 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 base

  1. In a clean saucepan, combine milk, vermicelli, loaf sugar, and butter.

  2. Add the grated almonds, cinnamon, and lemon peel tied in a muslin rag.

  3. Simmer gently until the vermicelli softens and thickens.

  4. Remove from heat, pour into a baking dish, and take out the spice bag.

Finish and bake

  1. Stir in another ounce of butter and the brandy.

  2. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt, strain into the mixture, and mix well.

  3. Grate nutmeg on top and bake until set at 350°F (175°C).

  4. Avoid using a hot oven to prevent boiling.

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.

  1. Almond + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,514 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Eggs
Set the custard as they cook, giving the pudding its firm, sliceable structure.
Vermicelli
Absorbs the milk as it simmers, thickening the mixture and giving the pudding its body.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the vermicelli softens in and the eggs set into a custard.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, tender mouthfeel to the pudding.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the pudding and adds to its soft, tender texture.

The step that matters

Bake at a moderate, not hot, oven. Egg custards set through gentle heat. A hot oven can overcook the eggs, causing a curdled or rubbery texture and boiling that makes the pudding uneven.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, butter, almond, cinnamon, brandy, egg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, butter, almond, cinnamon, brandy, egg. 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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