Name: Orange Pudding
Ingredients: 8 yolks of eggs; 4 whites of eggs; 4 ounces grated loaf sugar; 1½ ounces sugar biscuit; 2 tablespoons orange marmalade; 4 ounces butter; puff paste

Why it works: Biscuit and orange work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 371 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Orange Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the custard

Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately until light.
Mix the yolks with the grated sugar and sugar biscuit, then add the orange marmalade.
Beat the butter until creamy over a gentle heat.

Bake

Line a dish with puff pastry and stir in the butter just before baking.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350°F (175°C).

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.

Biscuit + orangetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together371 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Biscuit + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,009 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Sugar + biscuittop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,874 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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: Yolks and whites add richness and help the pudding set and hold its structure when baked.
Grated loaf sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the mixture bake to a tender, sweet texture.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, giving the pudding a rich, smooth mouthfeel.
Orange marmalade: Adds orange flavour and a touch of sweetness and acidity.