Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Brandy Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mold
Line a mold with stoned jar raisins or dried cherries.
Add a layer of thin slices of French roll, followed by ratafias or macaroons.
Continue layering fruit, rolls, and cakes until the mold is full, sprinkling in brandy occasionally.
Make the custard
Beat the eggs (yolks and whites) and mix with milk or cream, sweetening lightly.
Add grated nutmeg and lemon rind to the mixture.
Pour the liquid into the mold, allowing it to soak into the solid layers.
Boil and serve
Flour a cloth, tie it tightly over the mold, and boil for one hour, keeping the mold right side up.
Serve with pudding sauce.
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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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,768 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,742 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Raisin + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the milk into a custard that sets as the pudding cooks.
- Milk or cream
- Provides the liquid that soaks the bread and cakes and forms the custard.
- French roll
- Absorbs the custard and brandy, giving the pudding its body.
- Ratafias or macaroons
- Soak up the liquid and add a sweet, almond-like flavor to the layers.
- Raisins or dried cherries
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the pudding.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and warmth, flavoring the soaked layers.
The step that matters
Pour the liquid into the mold, allowing it to soak into the solid layers.. The custard must fully penetrate the bread and cakes before cooking; dry pockets stay pale and crumbly, while a well-soaked layering sets evenly into a cohesive pudding.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, egg, milk, nutmeg, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, egg, milk, nutmeg, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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