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Dessert

Plum Pudding

A steamed or baked pudding made with molasses, suet or butter, sweet milk or water, flour, fruit, baking soda, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Plum Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

  1. In a large bowl, mix together the molasses, suet or butter, and sweet milk or water.

  2. Add the flour, fruit, baking soda, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir until well combined.

  3. Pour the mixture into a pudding mold.

  4. Steam for one hour or bake at 350°F (175°C) until set.

  5. Serve with 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 + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark color and moisture to the batter.
Suet or butter
Adds fat, giving the pudding a rich, tender texture.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
Fruit
Adds moisture, sweetness and chewy bites throughout the pudding.
Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses acid to help the pudding rise and lighten.

The step that matters

Steam for one hour or bake at 350°F (175°C) until set. The pudding must cook through until the flour and batter set firmly. Underbaked or underset batter stays dense and gummy in the centre, so check that it has firmed before serving.

Swap the allspice

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

  1. Allspicethe original
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Gingerfits less well
  4. Turmericfits less well

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

More plum pudding recipes

English 165Christmas 156Sauce 71Eggless 34Baked 33Vegetable 19 See all 649 →

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