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Dessert

Marrow Pudding

A baked pudding made from beef marrow, breadcrumbs, sugar, candied peel, cherries, brandy or sherry, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,032 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Marrow Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. Cream the egg yolks and sugar together until thick and smooth.

  2. Add the marrow, breadcrumbs, candied peel, chopped cherries, and brandy or sherry; mix well.

  3. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the mixture.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered mold.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour.

  3. Serve with a suitable sauce.

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. Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

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

  3. Bread + brandytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together976 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Brandy + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

  5. Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

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

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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

Beef marrow
Adds richness and fat, giving the pudding a moist, tender body.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and give the pudding its light, crumbly structure.
Eggs
Set during baking and, with whipped whites, lift the pudding for a light texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the pudding and helps the yolks cream to a smooth base.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whites whipped to stiff peaks trap air that gives the pudding its lift. Folding gently keeps that air in; vigorous stirring deflates the batter and leaves a dense result.

“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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