Name: Brandy Pudding
Ingredients: jar raisins, stoned; dried cherries; thin slices of French roll; ratafias or macaroons; brandy; 4 eggs

Why it works: Raisin and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,768 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Brandy Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Line a mold with stoned jar raisins or dried cherries.
Add a layer of thin slices of French roll.
Place ratafias or macaroons next, followed by more fruit, rolls, and cakes until the mold is full.
Sprinkle in ⅓ cup of brandy at intervals.
Beat the 4 eggs (yolks and whites) together.

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.

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.

Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,768 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Brandy + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,340 recipes

Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
Raisin + eggtop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,556 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).