Skip to main content
Dessert

Macaroon Pudding

A custard pudding flavored with vanilla and layered with macaroons.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Macaroon Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Heat the milk in a double boiler.

  2. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until light.

  3. Add the heated milk to the egg yolk mixture.

  4. Cook until thick.

Add gelatin and flavor

  1. Pour the mixture over the beaten egg whites.

  2. Soak the gelatin in a little cold water.

  3. Add the gelatin to the mixture.

  4. Flavor with vanilla.

  5. Set in a cool place until it begins to congeal.

Layer and chill

  1. In a glass bowl, layer half of the mixture.

  2. Sprinkle with 6 crumbled macaroons.

  3. Set on ice for 30 minutes.

  4. Add the remaining custard.

  5. Cover with another layer of macaroons.

  6. Refrigerate until firm.

  7. Serve with whipped cream.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Gelatin + vanillatop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together924 recipes

    Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).

  5. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

Eggs
Egg yolks thicken the custard as they cook, giving it body and structure.
Sweet milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard and gives it a creamy, soft texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and balances the flavor of the egg yolks.
Granulated gelatin
Sets the custard so it holds its shape when chilled.
Macaroons
Add chewy texture and flavor between the layers of custard.

The step that matters

Cook until thick. Egg yolks thicken the custard as their proteins set with gentle heat. Cooking slowly in a double boiler keeps the custard smooth, because overheating can scramble the yolks and make the mixture grainy.

“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 macaroon pudding recipes

Orange 3 See all 38 →

You might also like

Vanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipes