Why it works: Lemon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the bread
Remove the crust from the stale French rolls and break the crumb into a basin.
Boil 1 ⅓ cups of milk and pour it over the bread while hot. Cover and let it soak.
Make the custard
Whisk 5 eggs until frothy, then add to the soaked bread and beat until smooth.
Mix in grated lemon peel, nutmeg, currants, and brandy.
Cook and serve
To boil, butter a mold, pour in the pudding, cover, and place in boiling water until done.
To bake, butter a dish, optionally edge with puff pastry, and bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°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.
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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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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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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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stale french rolls
- Their dry, open crumb soaks up the milk and gives the pudding its body.
- Milk
- Soaks into the bread and, with the eggs, forms the moist custard that sets the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set on heating to bind the bread and custard into a firm, sliceable pudding.
- Currants
- Add pockets of sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and a warm flavour that carries the spice and lemon notes.
The step that matters
Baking or boiling until set. Eggs set when heated to about 70 to 80°C; undercooking leaves the custard runny, while overcooking makes it grainy and rubbery, so check for a firm centre without overbaking.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, lemon, nutmeg, brandy, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Orangefits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, lemon, nutmeg, brandy, butter. 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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