Name: Prune Pudding
Ingredients: one cup of raisins; one-fourth cup of sugar; one cup of prunes until tender; lemon juice

Why it works: Raisin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Prune Pudding

Ingredients

one cup of raisins
one-fourth cup of sugar
one cup of prunes until tender
lemon juice

Directions

Prepare the fruit

Stew one cup of raisins and one cup of prunes until tender.
Place in a baking dish.

Assemble

Sprinkle with a little lemon juice and one-fourth cup of sugar.
Cover with a rich biscuit dough.

Bake and serve

Bake and serve hot with cream sauce.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

123Calories

1 gProtein

0 gFat

32 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Prune	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Norton, Caroline Trask. 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. See the original page.

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.

Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,742 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Prunes: Soften during stewing and add moisture and a rich, dark fruit flavor.
Raisins: Add sweetness and a chewy texture to the filling.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the fruit and lemon.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the fruit.