Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Peach Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Fill a baking dish with the prepared peaches.
Make the batter
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and mix in the sugar, cream, and sifted flour.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Bake and serve
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of sugar over the peaches.
Pour the batter over the peaches and mix well.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Serve with cream.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Peach + flourtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together787 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the batter and help it set into a tender custard-like texture.
- Egg whites
- Trap air that gives the pudding lightness and lift as it bakes.
- Flour
- Provides structure so the batter holds together after baking.
- Peaches
- Supply moisture and fruity flavor that softens as the pudding bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the peaches.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture to the batter.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. The whites hold air that gives the pudding its lift. Stirring vigorously or overmixing deflates the foam, leaving a denser, flatter result after baking.
Swap the peach
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, cream, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Peachthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, cream, flour. 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.
More peach pudding recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Peach Ice Cream64 recipes
Peach Fritters55 recipes
Peach Meringue40 recipes
Peach Ice16 recipes