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Dessert

Parisian Pudding

A steamed or baked pudding made with ground rice, cream, eggs, suet, marrow, apples, candied peel, spices, jam, raisins, rusks, maraschino, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Parisian Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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 base

  1. Mix the ground rice with the cream in a saucepan and stir over low heat until thickened.

  2. Beat the egg yolks and whites separately, then add them to the warm cream mixture.

Add the flavourings

  1. Add the remaining ingredients in the order listed, mixing well for 15 minutes.

Steam or bake and serve

  1. Grease a mold with butter, pour in the pudding mixture, and cover with buttered writing paper and a floured cloth.

  2. Steam for 2.5 hours or bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 2 hours.

  3. Carefully turn out the pudding and serve with sauce.

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. Orange + almondtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Angelica + almondtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together135 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Rice + almondtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,230 recipes

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

  5. Orange + angelicatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together159 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks and whites set the pudding and give it a light, tender structure.
Ground rice
Thickens the cream into a base that holds the suet, fruit and crumbs together.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, making the pudding soft and smooth.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it cooks.
Rusks
Pounded crumbs that soak up liquid and add body to the mixture.
Apricot jam
Adds sweetness and fruity flavour, with some moisture.

The step that matters

Steaming or baking the pudding gently. Eggs set as they heat, so too much heat or time can make the pudding dry, rubbery or split. Keep the water at a gentle simmer or the oven at the stated temperature, and check for a firm centre before turning out.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, cream, egg, beef, orange, angelica, almond):

  1. Lemonfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, cream, egg, beef, orange, angelica, almond. 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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