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Dessert

Fig Pudding

A steamed pudding made with figs, eggs, milk, suet, bread crumbs, sugar, maraschino cherries, and baking powder.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,026 recipes. Both carry methyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Fig Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, and milk until well combined.

  2. Stir in the bread crumbs, suet, and chopped figs.

  3. Add the maraschino cherries and baking powder, mixing thoroughly.

Steam and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a large mold or individual molds.

  2. Steam for two and a half hours.

  3. Serve hot with a rich 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.

  1. Fig + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  3. Fig + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together374 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the mixture and add structure as the pudding sets.
Bread crumbs
Provide bulk and body, soaking up moisture to give the pudding its texture.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich.
Figs
Supply the main flavor and sweetness, plus soft texture throughout.
Baking powder
Releases gas during steaming to lighten the pudding.

The step that matters

Steam for two and a half hours. Steam must stay steady and the mold must be sealed so the pudding cooks through evenly without drying out. Too little steam leaves the center dense and underset.

Swap the fig

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figthe original
  3. Datesfits less well
  4. Raisinfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, bread, sugar. 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.

More fig pudding recipes

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