Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Graham 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.
Make the batter
In a large bowl, mix together the molasses, sour milk, and fruit.
In another bowl, combine the Graham flour, salt, baking soda, cloves, and cinnamon.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until well combined.
Steam and bake
Pour the batter into a greased steaming dish.
Steam for 2 hours.
After steaming, place the pudding in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30 minutes.
Serve
Serve with your preferred 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.
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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,928 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,483 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Molasses
- Adds dark color, moisture and a deep sweetness to the pudding.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda so the pudding rises and stays tender.
- Graham flour
- Provides the coarse, wholesome structure that gives the pudding its body.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas that lightens the batter.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding dry ingredients slowly and stirring only until combined keeps the batter smooth and prevents lumps. Overmixing develops gluten and can make the pudding dense, while the baking soda needs to be evenly distributed to rise well.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, milk, flour, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, milk, flour, 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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