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Dessert

Iced Plum-pudding

A chilled plum pudding made with almonds, raisins, currants, citron, milk, cream, sugar, nutmeg, brandy, egg yolks, and preserved berries.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Iced Plum-pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the almonds

  1. Blanch sweet and bitter almonds in scalding water, then cool them in cold water.

  2. Pound almonds in a mortar until smooth, alternating between sweet and bitter.

  3. Add rose-water or lemon juice to keep it light.

Prepare the fruit

  1. Seed and halve the raisins.

  2. Mix them with washed and dried currants and diced citron.

  3. Dredge with flour to prevent clumping.

Make the custard

  1. Boil the milk with split vanilla bean until flavored, then strain it.

  2. Mix with cream, powdered sugar, and grated nutmeg.

  3. Stir in the pounded almonds and brandy or liqueur.

  4. Beat egg yolks until light and smooth, then gradually stir them into the mixture.

  5. Simmer the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly.

  6. Remove just before boiling to prevent curdling.

Finish and serve

  1. While hot, stir in the raisins, currants, and citron.

  2. Let cool.

  3. Add preserved strawberries or raspberries.

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. Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Almond + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Almond + vanillatop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

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

  5. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

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

What each ingredient does

Sweet and bitter almonds
Provide the main nutty flavor and the smooth, rich body of the pudding base.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard as they cook and add richness and a smooth texture.
Cream
Adds fat and richness, giving the pudding a soft, creamy mouthfeel.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, which the yolks thicken.
Raisins and currants
Add chewy texture and sweetness throughout the pudding.
Powdered loaf sugar
Sweetens the custard and softens the texture of the pudding.

The step that matters

Remove just before boiling. Egg yolks thicken as they heat but curdle if they get too hot. Stirring constantly over low heat and pulling the pan off just before boiling keeps the custard smooth.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, raisin, milk, vanilla, cream, sugar, nutmeg):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Coconutfits better
  3. Peachfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, raisin, milk, vanilla, cream, sugar, 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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