Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Le Véritable Plum-pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the dough
In a bowl, mix flour, breadcrumbs, and coarse sea salt.
Add butter, egg, and water; combine to form a thick dough.
Shape the dough into a long roll, resembling a loaf.
Wrap the dough in a cloth and tie it securely.
Cook
Boil water in a pot and place the wrapped pudding inside.
Cook for several hours until firm.
Alternatively, place in a greased mold and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour.
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 + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Raisin + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,630 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the dough so it holds its shape while cooking.
- Breadcrumbs
- Absorb liquid and add body, giving the pudding a tender, crumbly texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the dough and keeps the pudding moist and rich.
- Egg
- Binds the dough together and helps it set firm as it cooks.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Cook for several hours until firm. The pudding must cook long enough for the starches and egg to set fully; undercooking leaves it dense and wet in the centre. Keeping the water at a steady boil maintains even heat through the wrapped dough.
“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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