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Dessert

Graham Pudding

A steamed pudding made with molasses, butter, egg, milk, spices, Graham flour, and dates or figs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and clove 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

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix the molasses, butter, and egg until well combined.

  2. Stir in the sweet milk, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves.

  3. Gradually add the Graham flour and mix until smooth.

  4. Fold in the chopped dates or figs.

Steam and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a greased mold and steam for three hours.

  2. Serve warm with hard sauce.

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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Cinnamon + datestop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together283 recipes

    Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Adds dark sweetness, moisture and a rich, deep flavor to the pudding.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Egg
Binds the batter and helps give the pudding structure as it cooks.
Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses's acidity to help the pudding rise and lighten.
Graham flour
Forms the main structure of the pudding, with a coarse, hearty texture.
Dates or figs
Add chewy texture and natural sweetness throughout the pudding.

The step that matters

Pour the mixture into a greased mold and steam for three hours. Steaming gently and steadily cooks the batter through without drying it out. The mold must be well greased so the pudding releases cleanly once cooked.

Swap the dates

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, butter, egg, milk, cinnamon, clove, flour):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Datesthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, butter, egg, milk, cinnamon, clove, flour. 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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