Why it works: Almond and biscuit match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 388 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
Ratifia Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a gentle oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Infuse and strain
Heat the milk with the bitter almonds or bay leaves and cinnamon until it simmers.
Strain the milk through a fine sieve or muslin into a clean saucepan.
Make the custard
Bring the strained milk to a boil, then gradually stir it into the well-beaten eggs.
Let the mixture cool, then add the brandy.
Assemble and bake
Grease a deep tart dish with butter and line it with a half-paste crust.
Sprinkle the crumbled ratifias into the crust, grate lemon zest over them, and place whole ratifias on top.
Pour enough of the milk mixture to cover the ratifias.
Bake in a gentle oven at 300°F (150°C) for half an hour.
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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Almond + biscuittop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together388 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Biscuit + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together697 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Thicken the custard as they set during baking.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the eggs set into a custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the eggs and brandy.
- Ratifias
- Soak up the custard and add sweet biscuit flavour and texture.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and warmth in a small amount.
The step that matters
Stirring the hot milk into the eggs. Eggs scramble if they are heated too quickly. Adding the hot milk gradually, while stirring, warms the eggs slowly so the custard stays smooth and thickens evenly when baked.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, almond, sugar, egg, brandy, biscuit, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, almond, sugar, egg, brandy, biscuit, butter. 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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