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Dessert

Fig Custard Pudding

A custard pudding made with figs, milk, eggs, gelatin, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,026 recipes. Both carry methyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Fig Custard Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mold

  1. Soak figs in warm water until soft, split them, and line a well-buttered mold with the figs.

Make the custard

  1. Soak gelatin in ½ cup water, then add sugar and flavor to taste.

  2. Heat the milk and stir in the egg yolks until it thickens, then set aside to cool.

  3. Melt gelatin by adding 2 tablespoons boiling water and let it cool.

  4. When gelatin begins to congeal, whip the egg whites into it.

  5. Beat this mixture into the cooled custard.

  6. Fill the mold.

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. Fig + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

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

  3. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

  4. Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

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

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

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

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Figs
Soften and line the mold, providing flavor and a fruity layer in the finished pudding.
Milk
Forms the body of the custard that sets around the figs.
Egg yolks
Thicken the milk into a custard as they cook gently and set.
Egg whites
Whipped into the gelatine mixture to add lightness and airy texture.
Gelatine
Sets the pudding so it holds its shape when turned out.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and balances the flavor of the figs.

The step that matters

Whip the egg whites into the gelatine as it begins to congeal. If the gelatine is still liquid, the whites deflate and blend in; if it has set too firmly, the mixture lumps and will not fold smoothly into the custard.

Swap the fig

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figthe original
  3. Raisinfits about as well
  4. Lemonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar. 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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