Why it works: Lemon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Imperial Steamed Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Grease a pudding mold with butter.
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Gradually stir in the flour, lemon extract, and nutmeg extract until combined.
Steam and serve
Pour the mixture into the prepared mold.
Cover the mold with a lid or parchment paper.
Steam the pudding for about 2 hours, ensuring the water does not boil dry.
Let it cool slightly before unmolding and serving.
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.
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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving a light, tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Sugar
- Creams with butter to aid aeration and adds sweetness and browning.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, setting the batter as it steams.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the pudding as it steams.
The step that matters
Steam the pudding without boiling the water dry. Steaming needs a steady supply of water. If the pot boils dry, the pudding loses its gentle heat and can scorch or cook unevenly. Keeping the water topped up gives a moist, evenly set result.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, flour, nutmeg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, flour, 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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