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Dessert

Florentine Pudding

A layered custard and sponge cake dessert with chocolate icing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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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 ↓

Florentine Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sponge cake

  1. Make a sponge cake using 6 eggs and bake in 4 jelly tins.

Make the custard

  1. Beat the yolks of 4 eggs with 4 tablespoons of sugar.

  2. Pour 1 quart of boiling milk over the beaten eggs, stirring rapidly.

  3. Return the mixture to the fire.

  4. Make a paste with 3 tablespoons of corn starch mixed with a little cold milk, then stir it into the custard on the fire.

  5. Boil until thickened, stirring constantly.

  6. Flavor the custard with 1 teaspoon of vanilla while hot.

Assemble and ice

  1. Once cold, place one layer of custard between two layers of sponge cake.

  2. For the chocolate icing, simmer 3 tablespoons of grated chocolate, 6 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of cream, and a small piece of butter for a few minutes.

  3. While hot, spread the icing over the top of the pudding and sprinkle with sugar.

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. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

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
Yolks thicken the custard and set it, while whole eggs give the sponge its structure.
Corn starch
Thickens the custard as it boils, giving it a smooth, sliceable body.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing moisture and a creamy texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard, sponge and icing, and helps the icing stay glossy.
Grated chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavour and body of the icing.

The step that matters

Boil the custard until thickened, stirring constantly. Starch only thickens fully when it reaches a boil. Stopping early leaves a thin custard, while stirring stops it from scorching or lumping on the base of the pan. Egg yolks in the custard can curdle if overheated, so keep the heat controlled.

“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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