Name: Ginger Pudding
Ingredients: 3 eggs; ½ cup molasses; 1 cup sugar; 1 cup lard; 2 tablespoons ginger; ½ teaspoon baking soda or 1 teaspoon baking powder

Why it works: Molasses and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Ginger 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.

Make the batter

In a bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the molasses, sugar, and lard until well combined.
Add the ginger and baking soda (or baking powder) to the mixture and stir until a thick batter forms.

Steam and finish

Pour the batter into a pan and place it in a steamer over a pot of boiling water.
Steam until cooked through, then transfer to a 350°F (175°C) oven to dry out.
Serve with butter sauce.

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.

Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,116 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together14,054 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + gingertop 33% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,337 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (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: Bind the batter and add structure as they set during cooking.
Molasses: Adds moisture, sweetness and deep flavour to the pudding.
Lard: Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich mouthfeel.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps keep the pudding moist.
Baking soda or baking powder: Releases gas that lightens the batter so it rises as it cooks.

The step that matters

Steam until cooked through, then transfer to a 350°F (175°C) oven to dry out.. Steaming cooks the batter gently with moisture, so it sets without drying. Judge doneness by a set centre before moving it to the oven, since the dry heat afterward firms the surface and can overbake the edges if left too long.