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Dessert

Nesselrode Pudding

A cream and egg custard pudding, set with isinglass and mixed with candied fruit, flavoured with vanilla and Curaçao or brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and apricot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 608 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Nesselrode Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Put the isinglass, sugar, vanilla, and milk into an enameled saucepan.

  2. Boil gently for ten minutes.

  3. Beat the yolks of the eggs.

  4. Stir the yolks into the hot milk.

  5. Stir over the fire until the mixture reaches boiling heat.

  6. Strain the mixture into a basin.

Add the fruit and cream

  1. Combine the fruits with the Curaçao in a small bowl.

  2. Let the fruits stand for half an hour.

  3. Beat the cream to a froth.

  4. Stir the cream into the custard when nearly cold.

  5. Add the fruit to the mixture.

  6. Stir the mixture rapidly for five minutes.

Set in a mold

  1. Rinse a mold in cold water.

  2. Pour in the mixture.

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. Vanilla + apricottop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together608 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Vanilla + pineappletop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together911 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  3. Pineapple + apricottop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together377 recipes

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

  4. Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  5. Pineapple + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,664 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Isinglass
Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the custard as it cools.
Eggs
Yolks thicken the custard and add richness and smoothness.
Cream
Whipped cream adds lightness and a rich, creamy texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the yolks and isinglass set into custard.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and softens the set texture.

The step that matters

Stir the yolks into the hot milk. Egg yolks can scramble if they meet high heat too quickly. Stirring constantly while adding them to the hot milk keeps the custard smooth, then cooking it to boiling thickens the yolks evenly.

Swap the angelica

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Gingerfits about as well
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Angelicathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vanilla, milk, egg, pineapple, apricot, orange. 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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