Why it works: Ginger and tea work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 216 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Ginger Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make and steam the batter
Combine three eggs, one half pint molasses, one cupful sugar, one cupful lard, two tablespoonfuls of ginger, one half teaspoonful of baking soda, and one teaspoonful of baking powder into a thick batter.
Put the batter in a pan and set it in a steamer over a pot of boiling water.
Finish and serve
When done, set the pan in the oven to dry off.
Serve with butter sauce.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Pudding | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
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Ginger + teatop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together216 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Eggs
- Set during steaming to bind the batter and give the pudding its structure.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a dark, rich flavor.
- Lard
- Adds fat that makes the pudding tender and moist.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps keep the pudding moist.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping it rise and lighten.
- Ginger
- Gives the pudding its warm, spicy aroma and flavor.
The step that matters
Keeping the steamer at a steady boil. Steam is what cooks the batter gently and evenly. If the water stops boiling or runs low, the steam drops, the pudding cooks unevenly, and it can turn out dense or wet in the center.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, sugar, egg, tea):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Nutmegfits less well
- Clovefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, egg, tea. 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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