Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Apple, Currant, Cherry, or Other Fresh Fruit Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the crust
Make a paste with flour and suet or butter.
Lay a well-floured cloth into a basin, dip it in hot water, wring it dry, and shake it out.
Roll the paste thin and press it evenly into the basin on the cloth.
Fill and boil
Fill the basin with prepared apples or other fruit.
Moisten the edges of the paste, press them together, and fold them over.
Gather the ends of the cloth and tie it firmly close to the pudding.
Drop the pudding into plenty of fast boiling water.
When done, lift it out using a strong fork in the corner of the cloth.
Serve
Turn it gently into a serving dish and cut a small round or square from the top immediately.
Serve without delay, accompanied by pounded sugar and a small slice of fresh butter.
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.
-
Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,790 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the paste that wraps and holds the fruit together during boiling.
- Suet or butter
- Adds fat to the paste, giving it a tender, rich texture as it cooks.
- Apples
- Supply the fruit filling, adding moisture and a tart flavour as they cook.
- Pounded sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tart fruit and the rich pastry.
The step that matters
Tie the cloth firmly. A loose cloth lets boiling water seep into the paste, making the pudding soggy and possibly letting the filling escape. A firm, close tie keeps the pudding sealed and holds its shape while it boils.
Swap the lemon
The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, apple, sugar, nutmeg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, apple, sugar, 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.
You might also like
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 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.