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Preserve

Fig Pudding

A steamed pudding made with bread crumbs, figs, apples, suet, flour, sugar, eggs, nutmeg, and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and apple match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 238 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Fig Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, chopped figs, brown sugar, suet, flour, chopped apples, and nutmeg.

  2. Add enough milk to create a batter consistency.

  3. Fold in the beaten eggs until well combined.

Steam and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.

  2. Boil for 4 hours, ensuring the water level remains consistent.

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 + appletop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together238 recipes

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

  2. Fig + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together510 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

  5. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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 the pudding sets.
Bread crumbs
Provide bulk and absorb liquid to give the pudding body.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich.
Figs
Add sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
Flour
Adds structure so the batter holds together while steaming.

The step that matters

Keep the water level steady while boiling. Boiling for 4 hours means the water can evaporate and drop below the mold. Exposed sides cook unevenly and the pudding can dry out or scorch, so the water must be topped up to keep the mold fully covered and the cooking gentle and even.

Swap the apple

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Datesfits about as well
  4. Applethe original

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

More fig pudding recipes

Steamed 14Sauce 7English 3 See all 340 →

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