Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
A Oood Baked Bread Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard
Boil 1 pint of milk.
Pour the boiled milk over 6 ounces of fine bread crumbs and 1 ounce of butter in a bowl.
Cover and let it soak until the bread is well soaked.
Stir in 3 ounces of sugar, 5 eggs (using 3 yolks and 2 whites), 2 ounces of sliced candied orange rind, and a little nutmeg.
Once the mixture is nearly cold, pour it into a dish.
Top and bake
Beat the 2 reserved egg whites until frothy, then mix in 3 tablespoons of sugar.
Spread the mixture over the top of the pudding.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 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.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,746 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fine bread crumbs
- Soak up the milk and form the body of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Set the custard as it bakes and bind it into a firm, sliceable texture.
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid that softens the bread and keeps the pudding moist.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and sweetens the beaten egg whites for the topping.
- Candied orange rind
- Adds bright citrus flavour and a chewy bite throughout.
The step that matters
Pour the mixture into the dish only when it is nearly cold. Eggs begin to thicken and can scramble when added to very hot liquid. Letting the mixture cool first keeps the custard smooth and evenly set during baking.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, milk, sugar, egg, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, milk, sugar, egg, nutmeg. 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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