Why it works: Cinnamon and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
A Good Baked Bread 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the custard
In a large bowl, combine the bread pieces and milk; let it soak for 10 minutes.
Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then add sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
Mix the egg mixture into the soaked bread until well combined.
Fold in raisins if using.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until set and golden on top.
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.
-
Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,287 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
-
Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Stale bread
- Absorbs the custard and holds the structure of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set when heated, giving the pudding its firm, sliceable texture.
- Milk
- Soaks into the bread and forms the custard that bakes into the pudding.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown as it bakes.
The step that matters
Let the bread soak before adding the egg mixture. Dry bread needs time to absorb the milk; if it is not soaked, pockets of dry bread stay in the baked pudding and the texture turns uneven.
Swap the raisin
The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, milk, sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon):
- Figfits better
- Peachfits about as well
- Pearfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, milk, sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon. 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.
More bread pudding recipes
You might also like
Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes
Soft Ginger Bread85 recipes
Orange Potato Bread80 recipes
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.