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Dessert

Ratafia Pudding

A custard pudding with ratafía, sponge cakes, jam, and almonds baked in a pie dish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Apricot and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 852 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Ratafia 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.

Prepare the dish

  1. Butter a pie dish.

  2. Cut the sponge cakes into slices.

  3. Lay the sliced sponge cakes in the dish.

  4. Pour the sherry over the sponge cakes.

  5. Spread some jam on top of the sherry-soaked sponge cakes.

Make the custard

  1. Beat the yolks of the eggs. Beat two egg whites.

  2. Add the milk, sugar, and pounded almonds to the egg mixture.

Assemble and bake

  1. Pour half of the custard over the sponge cakes.

  2. Cover the top with ratafía biscuits.

  3. Pour the remaining custard over the biscuits.

  4. Let the pudding stand for thirty minutes.

  5. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for half an hour.

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. Apricot + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together852 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Sherry + apricottop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together173 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  3. Milk + apricottop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together826 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sherry + almondtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together517 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Sherry + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,479 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg yolks and whites set the custard, giving the pudding its body and structure.
Sponge cakes
Absorb the sherry and form the soft, moist base layer of the pudding.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding moisture and tenderness.
Sherry
Soaks into the sponge cakes, adding moisture and a distinctive wine flavour.
Pounded almonds
Add nutty aroma and richness to the custard.
Ratafia biscuits
Add almond-like flavour and a crisp, chewy contrast in the top layer.

The step that matters

Pour the custard in two portions. Pouring half first lets the sponge cakes soak up some custard so the layers bond, while the remaining custard over the biscuits keeps them from drying out during baking.

“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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