Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Bread 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.
Make the base
In a stew-pan, combine the bread crumbs and enough milk to cover them.
Add the lemon peel, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Boil for about 10 minutes.
Sweeten with powdered loaf sugar to taste.
Bake
Remove the cinnamon and stir in the eggs, beating well.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 60 minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Bread crumbs
- Form the body of the pudding and soak up the milk to make a soft, set base.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set during baking to give the pudding its custard-like structure.
- Milk
- Softens the bread crumbs and provides liquid that the eggs set into a custard.
- Powdered loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the warm spices and lemon.
The step that matters
Stirring in the eggs. Eggs should be beaten well and added once the mixture has cooled slightly, since very hot liquid can scramble them. Well-blended eggs set evenly in the oven, giving a smooth custard rather than a lumpy one.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, egg. 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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