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Dessert

Dover Puddixg

A steamed pudding made with flour, suet, milk, molasses, raisins, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fayette (Mo.). Baptist Church, Ladies of the · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Dover Puddixg

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Mix two cups of flour with the suet.

  2. Add the milk, soda, and molasses.

  3. Add the third cup of flour.

  4. Add the raisins.

Steam

  1. Steam in a mould for five hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

337Calories
9 gProtein
9 gFat
58 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Coffeenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Fayette (Mo.). Baptist Church, Ladies of the. 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. 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.

  1. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

  3. Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

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

  4. Coffee + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,202 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  5. Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,577 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour (in the method)
Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it cooks.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark colour and a rich flavour.
Soda
Reacts with the acid in molasses to produce gas that lightens the batter.
Raisins
Add sweetness and chewy pieces throughout the pudding.
Milk
Adds the liquid that hydrates the flour and loosens the batter.

The step that matters

Steam in a mould for five hours. Gentle, steady steam cooks the batter evenly and keeps it moist. If the water boils dry or the mould is not sealed, the pudding can dry out or turn heavy and uneven.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, clove, coffee, milk, nutmeg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits about as well
  3. Raisinthe original
  4. Orangefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, clove, coffee, milk, nutmeg. 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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