Why it works: Lemon and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,950 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Cherry Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mix the bread crumbs, sugar, eggs, milk, lemon rind, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.
Butter a mold and spread a thick layer of the mixture on the bottom.
Assemble and steam
Add a layer of cherries, then another layer of the bread mixture; repeat until the mold is filled.
Close the mold tightly and steam for 2 hours.
Serve
Serve with a sweet liquid sauce.
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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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Bread crumbs
- Form the bulk of the pudding and soak up the milk and egg to set a soft body.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set it into a firm, custard-like texture when steamed.
- Milk
- Moistens the bread crumbs and cooks with the eggs to give a tender, creamy crumb.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the cherries and lemon.
- Cherries
- Add fruity acidity and moisture that contrast with the sweet, soft crumb.
The step that matters
Close the mold tightly and steam for 2 hours. A tight seal keeps steam trapped around the pudding so it cooks evenly and stays moist. If steam escapes, the top dries out and the water level in the pot may need topping up during the long cook.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sugar, egg, milk, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, egg, milk, cinnamon. 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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