Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, combine the Graham flour, sweet milk, molasses, baking soda, and salt.
Stir in the seeded raisins, currants, and spices to taste.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake and serve
Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Serve warm with sauce.
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.
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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk and structure of the pudding, with a coarse, hearty texture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a dark color to the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas that lifts and lightens the batter.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the flour and helps form a moist, cohesive batter.
- Seeded raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Baking soda lifts the batter only while it sets in the oven. Underbaking leaves a dense, gummy center, while overbaking dries the pudding out, so checking for doneness matters.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, molasses, raisin, allspice, clove, cinnamon):
- Figfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, molasses, raisin, allspice, clove, cinnamon. 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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