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Dessert

Fig Pudding

A pudding made with grated bread, figs, milk, suet, brown sugar, nutmeg, and egg, boiled for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 510 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Fig Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix the grated bread and chopped suet.

  2. Add the chopped figs, brown sugar, grated nutmeg, and beaten egg.

  3. Pour in the milk and mix until well combined.

Cook and serve

  1. Transfer the mixture to a mold and boil steadily for 4 hours.

  2. Serve with cold sauce.

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. Fig + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together510 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  2. Fig + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Bread + figtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together374 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Grated bread
Provides the bulk and body that holds the pudding together as it steams.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich during long cooking.
Egg
Binds the mixture so it sets firm and holds its shape when cooked.
Milk
Moistens the dry ingredients so the bread softens into an even batter.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a molasses-like depth of flavour.
Figs
Contribute natural sweetness, chewy texture and fruity flavour throughout the pudding.

The step that matters

Boiling the pudding steadily. The pudding must cook gently over a long, steady simmer so it sets through without drying out or becoming dense. Letting the water drop below a steady boil can leave it heavy and undercooked in the centre.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Clovefits less well
  4. Allspicefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, fig, milk, sugar, egg. 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.

More fig pudding recipes

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