Why it works: Brandy and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,427 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mash the ingredients with the back of a spoon and rub through a sieve until fine and smooth.
Make the batter
Beat together the melted butter and sugar until smooth.
Beat the eggs and stir them into the butter and sugar mixture along with the brandy.
Boil and serve
Pour the mixture into a cloth, tie it up, and boil for about 30 minutes.
Melt some butter, mix it with sweetened wine, and pour it over the pudding.
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.
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Brandy + winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set firm as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, giving the pudding a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps keep the pudding moist.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and a warm, distinctive flavour.
The step that matters
Tie the cloth securely before boiling. The mixture must be fully enclosed in the cloth. If the tie is loose, boiling water can seep in and make the pudding soggy and watery instead of firm.
“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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