Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Queen of Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard base
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Combine bread crumbs, milk, egg yolks, butter, sugar, and lemon flavoring in a bowl.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake until set.
Top and finish
Spread jelly over the baked mixture.
Beat the egg whites with a little sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread the beaten egg whites on top of the jelly.
Return to the oven. Brown slightly.
Serve with sugar and cream.
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.
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 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
- Bread crumbs
- Form the body of the pudding, soaking up milk to create a soft, tender structure.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that the crumbs absorb and that the egg proteins set in.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help it set into a smooth, creamy texture when baked.
- Egg whites
- Whipped with sugar to form a stiff meringue that browns on top when returned to the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender crumb.
- Jelly
- Adds a fruity sweetness and a separate layer between the custard and meringue.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Egg whites need to be whipped until they hold stiff peaks so the meringue stays airy and lifts above the jelly. Underwhipped whites stay runny and sink, while overwhipped whites turn dry and grainy.
Flavor stand-ins for the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, milk, egg, butter, sugar):
- Vanillabetter flavor fit
- Figbetter flavor fit
- Peachabout as good a flavor fit
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, milk, egg, butter, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Soft Ginger Bread85 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 for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.