Name: Good Substitute for Plum Pudding
Ingredients: one cup of grated raw carrots; one cup of grated raw pota- toes; one cup of finely chopped suet; one cup of brown sugar; one cup of seeded raisins; one cup of currants; one-half cups of flour; one teaspoonful soda; one teaspoonful salt; one teaspoonful ground cinnamon; one-half teaspoonful ground allspice; one pinch of ground cloves; one pinch of ground mace; salt; cinnamon; allspice; cloves; mace

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

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.

Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,536 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Provides the structure that holds the pudding together after steaming.
Suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
Grated raw carrots: Contribute moisture and natural sweetness to the pudding.
Grated raw potatoes: Add moisture and body to the pudding's texture.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and a deeper, caramel-like flavour.
Raisins: Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the pudding.

The step that matters

Steaming for the full three hours. Steam cooks the grated vegetables and suet through and sets the flour into a moist, tender pudding. Stopping early leaves the centre heavy and doughy.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, sugar, raisin, flour, cinnamon, allspice, clove):

Figfits better
Orangefits better
Vanillafits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, sugar, raisin, flour, cinnamon, allspice, clove. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Cloves	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Mace	not in our table	0

Good Substitute for Plum Pudding