Name: Honey-comb Pudding
Ingredients: 1 cupful raisins v2 tablespoonful soda small cupful molasses stir flour; 1 cupful sugar ^^ cupful butter 1/2 cupful milk 1 cupful flour 4 eggs 1 cupf; 1/2 cupful milk 1 cupful flour 4 eggs 1 cupful raisins v2 tablespoonful soda; 1 cupful flour 4 eggs 1 cupful raisins v2 tablespoonful soda small cupful mo; 4 eggs 1 cupful raisins v2 tablespoonful soda small cupful molasses stir flo; 40 min- utes

Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Honey-comb Pudding

Ingredients

1 cupful raisins v2 tablespoonful soda small cupful molasses stir flour
1 cupful sugar ^^ cupful butter 1/2 cupful milk 1 cupful flour 4 eggs 1 cupf
1/2 cupful milk 1 cupful flour 4 eggs 1 cupful raisins v2 tablespoonful soda
1 cupful flour 4 eggs 1 cupful raisins v2 tablespoonful soda small cupful mo
4 eggs 1 cupful raisins v2 tablespoonful soda small cupful molasses stir flo
40 min- utes

Directions

Make the batter

Stir flour and sugar together.
Melt butter in warmed milk, then add the melted butter and milk to the flour and sugar mixture.
Beat eggs very lightly and stir into the mixture.
Beat molasses and soda together until foamy, then add to the batter.

Bake

Bake for 40 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

953Calories

28 gProtein

26 gFat

151 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49

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

By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [from old catalog]. 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.

Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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: Provide structure and richness as they set during baking.
Butter: Adds richness and tenderness to the batter.
Soda: Reacts with molasses to produce gas that lightens the batter.
Molasses: Adds moisture, sweetness and depth of flavour.
Flour: Forms the structure of the pudding as it bakes.

The step that matters

Beat molasses and soda until foamy. Soda reacts with the acidic molasses to release gas, which lightens the batter. Adding it only after the foam forms helps the pudding rise evenly and become light and honeycombed.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, flour, sugar, butter, milk, egg):

Raisinthe original
Vanillafits about as well
Figfits less well
Peachfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, flour, sugar, butter, milk, egg. 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.

Molasses Cookies96 recipes

Molasses Cake90 recipes

Molasses Sponge Cake9 recipes

White Cake431 recipes

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Honey-comb Pudding