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Dessert

Fig Pudding

A steamed pudding made with figs, apples, suet, sugar, bread crumbs, flour, eggs, and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and apple match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 238 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Fig Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the pudding

  1. In a large bowl, combine the figs, minced apples, suet, sugar, bread crumbs, and a little flour.

  2. Add the eggs and grated nutmeg, mixing well until combined.

  3. Transfer the mixture to a pudding mold or heatproof dish.

Cook

  1. Boil or steam for 4 hours until cooked through.

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 + appletop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together238 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

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

  3. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Fig + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together374 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,790 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the mixture and help it set as it cooks into a firm pudding.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and give the pudding a soft, tender body.
Figs
Provide the main sweetness and chewy texture of the pudding.

The step that matters

Steaming for the full time. Steaming gently and for the full time lets the eggs and starches set evenly, so the pudding is cooked through and holds together rather than being soggy or loose in the centre.

Swap the apple

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

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Datesfits better
  4. Applethe original

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

More fig pudding recipes

Steamed 14Sauce 7English 3 See all 340 →

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