Why it works: Flour and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,429 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Fruit 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.
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the flour, fruit, molasses, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
Cook
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam the pudding for 2 hours, or bake it at 350°F (175°C) until cooked through.
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.
-
Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pudding together as it cooks.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and a dark, rich flavor to the pudding.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas that lifts and lightens the pudding.
- Fruit
- Adds moisture, natural sweetness, and fruity flavor throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Steam or bake until cooked through. Steaming or baking long enough sets the starches and proteins in the flour and gives the dense batter a firm, fully cooked texture. Stopping early leaves the centre gummy and raw-tasting.
“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 fruit pudding recipes
You might also like
Molasses Cookies96 recipes
Molasses Cake90 recipes
Molasses Sponge Cake9 recipes
White Cake431 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.