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Dessert

Fig Pi Doixg

A steamed fig pie made with suet, bread crumbs, sugar, figs, eggs, milk, brandy, nutmeg, and baking powder.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 510 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Fig Pi Doixg

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Combine suet, bread crumbs, sugar, figs, eggs, milk, brandy, nutmeg, and baking powder in a bowl, then mix well until fully combined.

  2. Pour the mixture into a greased mold.

Steam

  1. Steam for 3 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 + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together510 recipes

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

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Bread + figtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together374 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Suet
Adds richness and a moist, tender crumb as it melts during steaming.
Bread crumbs
Provides bulk and body to the pudding, helping it hold its shape.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set during steaming to give structure.
Figs
Contribute sweetness, chewy texture and fruity flavour.
Baking powder
Releases gas that helps the pudding rise and become lighter.

The step that matters

Steam for 3 hours. Steaming gently and steadily cooks the eggs and batter through without drying them. Letting the water boil dry or the steam drop can leave the pudding dense or undercooked in the centre.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Clovefits less well
  4. Allspicefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, fig, 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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