Name: Date Pudding
Ingredients: 1 lb breadcrumbs (or crusts); 5 lb flour; ½ lb suet; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 egg; 2 oz sugar; 1 lb dates; A little milk

Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Date Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

Mix the breadcrumbs, flour, suet, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl.
Stone and chop the dates, then add them to the dry mixture.
In a separate bowl, combine the egg and a little milk.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined.

Steam and serve

Transfer the mixture to a well-greased basin and cover with buttered paper.
Steam the pudding for 3 hours.

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.

Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Dates + milktop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together470 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + datestop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together675 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Breadcrumbs: Provide bulk and a soft, absorbent body that holds the pudding together.
Flour: Provides structure, setting the pudding as it cooks.
Suet: Adds fat, giving the pudding a rich, moist texture.
Baking powder: Releases gas during steaming, helping the pudding rise and become light.
Egg: Binds the ingredients together and adds structure as it sets.
Dates: Add natural sweetness, moisture, and a caramel-like flavour.