Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Brown Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Make and bake
In a bowl, mix the flour, raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, baking powder, butter, molasses, and salt until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 4 hours.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,331 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Provides the starch and structure that hold the pudding together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas as it heats, helping the pudding rise and become lighter in texture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a deep brown colour as the pudding bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat, which gives richness and a softer, more tender crumb.
- Raisins
- Add chewy pockets of sweetness and moisture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Baking for a long, slow time at low heat. Slow baking at 300°F lets the starch set and the molasses darken gradually without drying or scorching the outside. Too high a heat or too short a time can leave the centre wet or the crust burnt.
Swap the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, raisin, nutmeg, cinnamon, butter, molasses):
- Clovefits about as well
- Allspicethe original
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, raisin, nutmeg, cinnamon, butter, molasses. 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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