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Dessert

Nesselrode Pudding

A fruit custard pudding made with pineapple, candied fruit, and spices, thickened with isinglass and served chilled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and apricot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 608 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Nesselrode Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Combine isinglass, loaf sugar, stick vanilla, and new milk in an enamelled saucepan.

  2. Boil gently for 10 minutes.

  3. Beat the yolks of the eggs.

  4. Stir the yolks into the hot milk mixture, but do not boil.

  5. Stir over heat until it reaches boiling temperature.

  6. Strain into a basin.

Prepare the fruit

  1. Cut the fruits into half-inch squares.

  2. Pour the chosen liquor over the fruit.

  3. Let the fruit stand for 30 minutes.

Combine and set

  1. Beat the double cream until frothy.

  2. Stir the frothy cream into the custard when nearly cold.

  3. Add the fruit and mix rapidly for 5 minutes.

  4. Rinse a mold in cold water.

  5. Pour the pudding mixture into the mold.

  6. Place the mold in a pan surrounded by rough ice.

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. Vanilla + apricottop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together608 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Vanilla + pineappletop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together911 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  3. Pineapple + apricottop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together377 recipes

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

  4. Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  5. Pineapple + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,664 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Isinglass
Gelatinous setting agent that firms the chilled custard into a sliceable pudding.
Fresh egg yolks
Enrich the custard and thicken it into a smooth, creamy texture when gently heated.
Double cream
Adds fat and lightness, giving the set pudding a rich, smooth mouthfeel.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the custard and helps balance the richness of the cream and yolks.
New milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard that the yolks thicken.
Candied apricots
Add chewy sweetness and bright fruit flavour throughout the pudding.

The step that matters

Stirring the yolks into the hot milk. If the custard boils after the yolks go in, the egg proteins scramble and curdle, leaving a grainy texture. Heat gently and stir constantly so the custard thickens smoothly.

Swap the angelica

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vanilla, milk, egg, pineapple, apricot, orange):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Gingerfits about as well
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Angelicathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vanilla, milk, egg, pineapple, apricot, orange. 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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