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 ↓
A Good Baked Bread Pudding
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 custard base
Pour boiling milk over the bread crumbs and butter in a bowl.
Cover and let it soak until the bread is well soaked.
Stir in sugar, egg yolks, candied orange rind, and nutmeg until combined.
Once the mixture is nearly cold, pour it into a baking dish.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gradually add sugar, continuing to beat until glossy.
Spread the egg white mixture over the pudding.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,746 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh bread crumbs
- Absorb the milk to form the soft body of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks set the custard, while whipped whites form the light glossy topping.
- Milk
- Soaks the bread and, with the eggs, forms the set custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps the whipped whites stay glossy.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that softens the bread and carries flavour.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites. Whites must reach stiff peaks and be beaten to a glossy finish before spreading. Underbeaten whites collapse and weep, and overbeaten whites turn dry and grainy, so the topping will not hold its shape in the oven.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, milk, sugar, egg, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, milk, sugar, egg, nutmeg. 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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