Name: Boiled English Plum Pudding
Ingredients: one pound of flour; one pound of beef suet; two pounds of raisins; two pounds of currants; one pound of brown sugar; half cup of butter; a pound of citron; eight eggs; one teacup of molasses; one large tablespoon of flour

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 ↓

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.

Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Flour and butter 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

Flour: Forms the structure that holds the pudding together as it cooks.
Beef suet: Adds richness and moisture, keeping the pudding tender during long cooking.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set firm as it cooks.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and helps give the pudding a darker color and deeper flavor.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture, and a dark color with a rich, caramel-like flavor.
Butter: Adds fat and richness to the sauce, giving it a smooth, velvety body.

The step that matters

Boil for five hours. A long, steady boil cooks the dense mixture through evenly. If the boil is too hard or the water runs low, the pudding can dry out, cook unevenly, or turn heavy.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, beef, raisin, sugar, butter, egg, molasses):

Figfits better
Vanillafits better
Coconutfits about as well
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, beef, raisin, sugar, butter, egg, molasses. 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
Beef	100g cooked	250
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49

Boiled English Plum Pudding