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 ↓
Graham Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Mix together molasses, butter, egg, milk, and baking soda.
Stir in Graham flour, raisins, and spices until well combined.
Steam and serve
Pour the mixture into a greased mold.
Steam for 4 hours.
Serve with brandy sauce, wine sauce, or your preferred 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 + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Molasses
- Adds dark sweetness and moisture, and gives the pudding its colour and flavour.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps it set firm as it cooks.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to lift the batter so it cooks lighter.
- Graham flour
- Forms the main structure of the pudding, with coarse bran giving a hearty texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a tender crumb and smooth mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Steam for 4 hours. Steaming gently at a steady simmer cooks the batter through without drying the outside. If the water boils dry or the pot is not kept covered, the pudding can turn dense or unevenly cooked, so the water level must be checked throughout.
“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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