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Dessert

Fig Pudding

A steamed pudding made with figs, bread crumbs, suet, eggs, milk, brandy, and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,026 recipes. Both carry methyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Fig Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the pudding

  1. In a bowl, combine chopped figs, bread crumbs, suet, eggs, baking soda, milk, and brandy, and mix well until all ingredients are combined.

  2. Pour the mixture into a mold.

Steam and serve

  1. Steam the pudding for 4 hours.

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  3. Fig + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together374 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Fig + brandytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together222 recipes

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

  5. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Figs
Provide the main sweetness, moisture and fruity flavour throughout the pudding.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and give the pudding a soft, tender body.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, cohesive pudding.
Baking soda
Reacts with the batter to lighten the texture and aid rising.
Milk
Adds moisture and helps the crumbs and eggs form a smooth batter.

The step that matters

Steam the pudding for 4 hours. Steaming must be gentle and steady so the pudding cooks through evenly and stays moist. If the water boils dry or the mold is sealed poorly, the pudding can dry out or turn heavy and underdone in the centre.

Swap the fig

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, egg, milk, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits about as well
  2. Figthe original
  3. Apricotfits about as well
  4. Applefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, egg, milk, brandy. 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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