Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg 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 ↓
Steamed Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the chopped raisins, butter, flour, molasses, sweet milk, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased mold.
Steam and serve
Steam the pudding for 2 hours.
Serve hot with a sauce of your choice.
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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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Raisin + flourtop 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).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender, moist crumb and rich flavor.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a moist, dense texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that lightens the pudding.
- Raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy pockets of fruit throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Pour the mixture into a greased mold. Grease keeps the dense, sticky batter from clinging to the mold, so the pudding releases cleanly once steamed. Filling the mold without overfilling leaves room for the pudding to rise as the baking soda reacts.
“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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