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Dessert

Fig or Raisin Pudding

A steamed pudding made with figs, suet, sugar, bread crumbs, spices, eggs, milk, and baking powder.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg 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 ↓

Fig or Raisin Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, mix figs, suet, sugar, bread crumbs, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and baking powder.

  2. Beat the eggs, then add the milk and mix well.

  3. Pour the milk and egg mixture into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Steam and serve

  1. Steam the mixture for 3 hours.

  2. Serve with hard sauce if desired.

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.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Fig + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together614 recipes

    Shared aroma: cinnamyl acetate (sweet aromatic, cinnamon).

  5. Fig + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together404 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Figs
Provide the main fruit flavour and moist, sweet bulk through the pudding.
Suet
Adds richness and fat, giving the pudding a tender, moist crumb.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and help it set as it cooks.
Bread crumbs
Absorb the liquid and give the pudding body and structure.
Baking powder
Releases gas during cooking, helping the pudding rise and lighten.

The step that matters

Pour the milk and egg mixture into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Thorough mixing spreads the liquid evenly so the bread crumbs hydrate and the baking powder works throughout, avoiding dry pockets or dense patches in the steamed pudding.

Swap the fig

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, bread, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, egg, milk):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figthe original
  3. Raisinfits about as well
  4. Applefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, bread, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, egg, milk. 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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