Bread and Butter Pudding

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. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together5,377 recipes

   Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

3. Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together3,057 recipes

   Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

4. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

5. Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together6,180 recipes

   Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs

Set the custard so the pudding holds together rather than staying liquid.

Milk

Forms the custard base that soaks into the bread and gives a soft, moist texture.

Thin-cut bread

Absorbs the custard and provides the body of the pudding.

Brown sugar

Adds sweetness and a deeper, caramel-like flavor to the custard.

Currants and stoned raisins

Add sweetness, chewy texture, and pockets of fruit through the pudding.

Brandy or rum

Adds aromatic flavor to the fruit layer.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, bread, raisin, brandy, milk, egg, nutmeg):

1. Figfits better
2. Vanillafits better
3. Applefits about as well
4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, bread, raisin, brandy, milk, egg, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.