Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓
Rice and Peach Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Cook the rice
Boil the rice until tender, then drain.
Add enough boiling milk to cover the rice and let it stew until absorbed.
Stir in sugar to taste and the butter while hot.
Quickly stir in the beaten eggs.
Assemble the pudding
Butter a pudding mold and cover the bottom with bread crumbs.
Layer the rice (1 inch deep), then a layer of peaches sprinkled with sugar.
Repeat layers until the mold is filled, finishing with a layer of rice.
Bake and serve
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 40 minutes if using raw peaches, or 15 to 20 minutes if using canned or preserved peaches.
Carefully turn the pudding out of the mold onto a plate and serve with Maryland 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.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + peachtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together781 recipes
Shared aroma: phellandrene (minty).
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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Forms the bulk of the pudding and sets into a tender, soft body as it cooks.
- Milk
- Cooks into the rice to add moisture and creamy richness.
- Eggs
- Bind the pudding and help it set firm when baked.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richer flavour and a softer texture.
- Peaches
- Add fruity sweetness and moisture between the rice layers.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the rice and sweetens the peach layers.
The step that matters
Quickly stir in the beaten eggs. Eggs scramble if they meet very hot rice for long, so they should be stirred in quickly while the mixture is still hot but not left to sit. Gentle, fast mixing keeps the eggs smooth and evenly distributed so the pudding sets evenly when baked.
Swap the peach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, sugar, butter, egg, bread):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Peachthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, sugar, butter, egg, bread. 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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