Skip to main content
Dessert

Jerusalem Pudding

A chilled gelatin-based dessert made with dates, cream, and orange juice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Vanilla and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Jerusalem Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the gelatine in ½ cup of cold water for 30 minutes.

  2. Stone and finely chop the dates.

  3. Mash the chopped dates with the juice of several oranges.

Make the mousse

  1. Whip the cream.

  2. Place the whipped cream in a pan of cold water or cracked ice.

  3. Add the chopped dates to the whipped cream.

  4. Sprinkle the mixture with powdered sugar.

  5. Add vanilla.

  6. Dissolve the gelatine over hot water.

  7. Mix the dissolved gelatine into the cream mixture, stirring continuously until thick.

Set and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a mold.

  2. Refrigerate until set.

  3. Serve with whipped cream.

  4. Sprinkle with almonds if desired.

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.

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. Vanilla + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Orange + almondtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Vanilla + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,371 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Dates + almondtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together217 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Dates + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together218 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cream
Whipped into air bubbles, it gives the pudding a light, airy body.
Gelatine
Sets the liquid mixture so it holds its shape when chilled.
Dates
Add sweetness, body and a soft, chewy texture to the pudding.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the cream and dissolves easily into the mixture.

The step that matters

Stirring the dissolved gelatine into the cream until thick. Gelatine must be fully dissolved and mixed in evenly while the cream is cold; if it is added too warm or left unstirred, it can set in streaks or lumps instead of a uniform texture.

“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.

You might also like

Orange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipesOrange Cream Rice PuddingOrange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipesVanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesOrange GelatinOrange Gelatin100 recipes