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 ↓
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.
Make the custard
Heat the milk with the bitter almonds (or bay leaves and cinnamon) and a few grains of salt, adding sugar to taste.
Simmer gently for a few minutes.
Strain the milk through a fine sieve or muslin.
Return the milk to a clean saucepan and bring it to a boil.
Gradually stir the hot milk into the 6 well-beaten eggs, which have also been strained.
Let the mixture cool.
Add the brandy to the cooled mixture.
Assemble and bake
Grease a dish with butter.
Lay a pastry crust around the dish.
Sprinkle the crumbled ratifias into the dish.
Grate the lemon rind over the ratifias.
Place 3 ounces of whole ratifias on top.
Pour in enough custard to soak the ratifias.
Add the remaining custard after an hour.
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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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).
-
Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Brandy + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the custard when heated, giving the pudding its structure and body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing moisture and a soft, tender texture.
- Ratifias
- Soak up the custard and bake into a moist, tender layer with a crisp top.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the flavour of the almonds and brandy.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and warmth to the custard.
The step that matters
Gradually stir the hot milk into the eggs. Adding hot milk too quickly can scramble the beaten eggs. Pouring it in slowly while stirring gently warms the eggs evenly so the custard thickens smoothly when baked.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, almond, sugar, egg, brandy, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Apricotfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, almond, sugar, egg, brandy, 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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