Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cabinet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, mix together molasses, sweet milk, currants, suet, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and nutmeg.
Gradually add flour until the mixture is well combined.
Cook and serve
Pour the mixture into a well-buttered pudding mold.
Boil the mold for three to four hours.
Serve hot with wine 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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,685 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Milk and flour 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
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture to the pudding.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to produce gas that helps it rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Provides acidity that activates the baking soda for lift.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender while steaming.
The step that matters
Boil the mold for three to four hours. The pudding must cook gently and steadily for the full time so the starches set and the batter rises through. Letting the water boil dry or stop simmering can leave the center dense or undercooked.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, milk, cream, flour, nutmeg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, milk, cream, flour, 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.
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