Why it works: Butter and biscuit are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,009 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
Baked Gooseberry Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Strew gooseberries in a jar over a hot hearth or in a saucepan of water until they pop.
Press the gooseberries through a coarse sieve to obtain 1 pint of juice.
Make the pudding
Beat the juice with the egg yolks and strained egg whites.
Add the butter and sweeten to taste.
Mix in a few crumbs of roll or Naples biscuit for consistency.
Put a crust around a dish and pour the mixture in.
Bake 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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Butter + biscuittop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,009 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Sugar + biscuittop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,874 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gooseberries
- Provide the tart juice that gives the pudding its main flavour and acidity.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help the mixture set when baked.
- Egg whites
- Add lightness and structure, helping the pudding set and hold together.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture.
- Crumbs from a roll or naples biscuit
- Thicken the juice and egg mixture so it holds its shape.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs set when heated to a firm texture, but overbaking makes them curdle and turn grainy and watery. Pull the pudding once the centre just wobbles, since it firms as it cools.
“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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