Why it works: Pistachio and nuts match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 425 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓
Ice Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the custard
Dissolve the sugar in the cold custard and half freeze it.
Decorate the bottom of a mold with pieces of candied fruits and pistachios.
Chop the remaining fruits and nuts, then add them to the half-frozen custard along with the sherry and liqueur.
Freeze again for a few minutes, then stir in the whipped cream and mix well.
Freeze and serve
Freeze all together until thick, then pack into the mold.
Cover the lid's edges with lard or butter, then bury the mold in ice and salt for two hours or longer.
When ready to serve, turn out onto fancy paper and serve immediately.
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.
-
Pistachio + nutstop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together425 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Pistachio + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together634 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
-
Nuts + creamtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together886 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
-
Sherry + creamtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,038 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Custard
- Forms the creamy base that freezes into a smooth, scoopable texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and lowers its freezing point, keeping the pudding soft.
- Whipped cream
- Adds air and fat, giving the frozen pudding a light, rich texture.
- Sherry
- Adds aroma and flavour while contributing to a softer frozen texture.
- Maraschino or any liqueur
- Adds aroma and flavour, and alcohol keeps the frozen texture softer.
- Candied fruits
- Provide sweetness and concentrated fruit flavour throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Freeze all together until thick, then pack into the mold. Freezing the mixture only until thick, rather than solid, keeps it packable and avoids large ice crystals. Alcohol and sugar also lower the freezing point, so the mixture stays softer than plain ice cream and can be overfrozen or left to set unevenly if timing is off.
Swap the pistachio
The recipe marks pistachio as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, nuts, sherry, cream):
- Almondfits about as well
- Pistachiothe original
- Chestnutfits less well
- Cocoafits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, nuts, sherry, cream. 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 ice pudding recipes
You might also like
Pistachio Ice Cream36 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 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.