Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Fig 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, mix the sugar and molasses with the butter until creamy.
Add the sweet milk and eggs, and mix well.
Gradually stir in the flour and baking powder until combined.
Fold in the chopped figs.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish and bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + figtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,026 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + figtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,192 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten-based structure that holds the pudding's crumb together.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, lifting it so the pudding rises and becomes light.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the crumb tenderness and a softer texture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture to the batter.
- Figs
- Add fruit sweetness and moisture, dispersed through the batter.
The step that matters
Folding in the chopped figs. Overmixing after the flour goes in develops too much gluten, making the pudding dense and tough. Fold the figs in gently and only until they are evenly distributed.
Swap the fig
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, butter, milk, egg, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figthe original
- Peachfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, butter, milk, egg, flour. 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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