Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Almond Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the almonds
Boil water and pour it over the almonds; let sit until the skins come off easily.
Rub the almonds with a dry cloth, then pound them fine with rose-water.
Make the mixture
Beat the eggs to a stiff froth and mix in the sugar.
Combine the egg mixture with milk, pounded crackers, melted butter, and citron.
Add the pounded almonds and stir everything together.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a small pudding dish lined with pastry and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes.
Serve cold for the best flavor.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main body and nutty flavor of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set as they heat, giving the pudding its firm, custard-like structure.
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid that makes the pudding moist and tender.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender texture.
- Fine white sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the richness of the eggs and butter.
The step that matters
Baking the pudding. Egg proteins set with heat, so an oven that is too hot or baking too long can curdle the custard, leaving it grainy and watery. Bake only until the centre is just set.
“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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