Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
College Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, suet, currants, candied peel, sugar, and grated nutmeg.
Stir the ingredients until thoroughly mixed.
Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture, along with the brandy.
Mix well for a few minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + nutmegtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,997 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Nutmeg + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,311 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Bread + brandytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together976 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sugar, nutmeg, egg, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, nutmeg, egg, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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