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Dessert

To Make a Quaking Pudding

A custard pudding made with cream, eggs, and bread or flour, boiled in a cloth.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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To Make a Quaking Pudding

Why it works: Cream and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,920 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

To Make a Quaking Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Beat the cream, eggs, and egg whites together until well mixed.

  2. Grate in the nutmeg and add salt.

  3. Add rose water if desired.

  4. Mix in the crumbled bread or flour that has been combined with a little cream.

Cook in a cloth

  1. Butter a cloth well and dust it with flour.

  2. Pour the mixture into the cloth and tie the cloth loosely.

  3. Ensure the water is boiling before adding the pudding.

  4. Boil for 30 minutes.

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.

  1. Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Nutmeg + breadtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,997 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Nutmeg + rosetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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

Cream
Provides richness and moisture, giving the pudding its soft, wobbly body.
Eggs
Set when heated, giving the pudding structure while keeping it tender.
Egg whites
Add lift and airiness, lightening the set custard texture.
Bread or flour
Absorbs liquid and thickens the mixture so it holds together when boiled.

The step that matters

Ensure the water is boiling before adding the pudding. Starting in boiling water cooks the outside quickly, helping the egg mixture set into a firm shape rather than dissolving or becoming watery in the cloth.

“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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