Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon 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 ↓
Carrot Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Grate the raw carrots using a circular grater.
Make the pudding
In a bowl, combine the grated carrots, grated bread, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, salt, milk, eggs, and melted butter.
Stir and beat the mixture until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish lined with puff pastry.
Bake and serve
Bake until set and serve hot.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Carrot + cinnamontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together981 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Carrot + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,424 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm custard-like texture when baked.
- Grated bread
- Provides body and absorbs the milk and butter to give the pudding structure.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a tender texture and smooth mouthfeel.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly in the oven.
- Raw carrots
- Supply the main flavour and moisture, with grated pieces giving the pudding its texture.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs set as they heat, so underbaking leaves the pudding loose and wet in the centre, while overbaking makes it dry and rubbery. Check that the centre is just firm before removing it from the oven.
Swap the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, milk, egg, butter):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, milk, egg, butter. 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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