Name: Plum Pudding
Ingredients: one pound of raisins; one pound of currants; one half pound beef suet; one half pound of butter; one half pound of stale bread grated; one half pound of flour; one pound brown sugar; one pint milk; one pint wine; a pound of chopped apples; a pinch of pudding eecipes; eight eggs; three quarters of a pound of chopped apples; one glass bourbon; two nutmegs grated; one table-spoonful mace; 93 salt; half milk to the whites; mace; cinnamon; salt

Why it works: Raisin and flour 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.

Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure as they set during cooking.
Flour: Provides body so the batter holds together and firms up.
Stale bread: Soaks up liquid and adds body to the batter.
Butter: Adds richness and a tender texture to the batter.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and moisture, and deepens the flavour.
Beef suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich.

The step that matters

If not stiff enough, add flour or bread.. The batter must be stiff enough to hold its shape while boiling. Too much liquid makes a dense, soggy pudding that may fall apart, so adjust gradually and check the texture before cooking.

Swap the currant

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

Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Coconutfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, beef, butter, bread, flour, sugar, milk. 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pudding	not in our table	0
Mace	not in our table	0

Plum Pudding

Plum Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

Cook

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)