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 ↓
Bread Pudding
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.
Assemble
Layer the slices of bread in a pan.
In a bowl, beat together the milk, eggs, and sugar.
Pour the mixture over the bread until it is well covered.
Do not stir the bread mixture before baking.
Bake
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until done.
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.
-
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).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Thin slices of dry bread
- Forms the structure that soaks up the custard and holds the pudding together.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that softens the bread and sets with the eggs into a custard.
- Eggs
- Bind the custard and set during baking to give the pudding its firm, tender texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown lightly in the oven.
The step that matters
Let the bread soak before baking. If the bread is not well covered, dry patches stay firm while the custard sets around them, leaving an uneven texture. Leaving the mixture unstirred keeps the custard evenly distributed around the bread.
“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
Soft Ginger Bread85 recipes
Orange Potato Bread80 recipes
Bread Crumb Cakes30 recipes
Gingerbread25 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.