Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Cabinet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak currants and raisins in brandy for 30 minutes.
Butter a plain mold well.
Layer and bake
Layer a slice of brioche at the bottom of the mold.
Sprinkle a spoonful of soaked currants and raisins over the brioche.
Repeat layering with remaining brioche and fruit.
Pour the prepared custard or cream over the layers.
Cover and bake in a water bath until set.
Let cool, then unmold and serve.
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.
-
Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
-
Brandy + vanillatop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brioche
- Forms the structure of the pudding and soaks up the custard as it sets.
- Custard or cream
- Sets around the bread and fruit to give the pudding its soft, creamy texture.
- Currants
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture from the brandy-soaked fruit.
- Smyrna raisins
- Add sweetness and chewy texture from the brandy-soaked fruit.
- Malaga raisins
- Add sweetness and chewy texture from the brandy-soaked fruit.
The step that matters
Cover and bake in a water bath until set. A water bath keeps the oven heat gentle so the egg-based custard sets evenly without curdling or becoming grainy. Baking too hot or too long can make it watery or rubbery.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brioche, raisin, brandy, sugar, vanilla, cream):
- Apricotfits better
- Figfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against brioche, raisin, brandy, sugar, vanilla, cream. 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.
More cabinet pudding recipes
You might also like
Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes
Brandy Peaches68 recipes
Red Currant Jelly65 recipes
Currant Ice Cream32 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.