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Dessert

Parisian Pudding

A rich rice pudding with cream, eggs, suet, marrow, fruit, spices, and sweeteners, steamed or baked.

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 in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the custard

  1. Mix the ground rice with the cream and heat over low fire.

  2. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and whites separately.

  3. Add the beaten eggs to the warm cream mixture.

  4. Incorporate the remaining ingredients in the order listed.

  5. Beat the mixture for 15 minutes.

Cook and serve

  1. Grease a plain mold with butter and pour in the pudding mixture.

  2. Cover with buttered writing paper and tie a floured cloth tightly over it.

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

  4. Carefully turn out the pudding and serve.

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
Egg yolks and whites set the pudding into a firm, sliceable structure as it cooks.
Ground rice
Thickens the cream and gives the pudding a body that holds its shape.
Cream
Provides richness and moisture, giving the pudding a tender, smooth texture.
Beef suet
Adds fat that makes the pudding richer and more moist as it cooks.
Sweet almonds
Add fat and a nutty flavour that enriches the pudding.
Apricot jam
Adds sweetness and fruity flavour, and moisture to the pudding.

The step that matters

Adding the beaten eggs to the warm cream mixture. If the cream is too hot when the eggs go in, the proteins can scramble and curdle, leaving a grainy texture instead of a smooth, set pudding. Keep the cream warm, not boiling, and mix steadily as the eggs are added.

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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