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 ↓
Black 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make and bake
In a bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, butter, flour, blackberry jam, baking soda, and sour milk.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake slowly for 30 to 40 minutes.
Serve
Serve with sauce or milk, and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.
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.
-
Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Blackberry + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together362 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender, rich texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps it brown at the surface.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk and jam to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Blackberry jam
- Adds fruit sweetness, flavour and moisture to the batter.
Swap the blackberry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, flour, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Blackberrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, flour, milk, 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.
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