Name: Plum Pudding
Ingredients: 1 teaspoonful soda 2 teaspoonfuls ginger 1 teaspoonful each cloves; 2 teaspoonfuls ginger 1 teaspoonful each cloves; 1 teaspoonful each cloves; 1 cupful raisins cinnamon; 1 cupful currants meg 3 cupfuls flour put 1 tablespoonful each of soda; 3 cupfuls flour put 1 tablespoonful each of soda; 1 tablespoonful each of soda; 1 cupful sugar 1 cupful molasses 2 cupfuls suet chopped fine 2 cupfuls milk; 1 cupful molasses 2 cupfuls suet chopped fine 2 cupfuls milk 2 eggs 1 teaspo; 2 cupfuls suet chopped fine 2 cupfuls milk 2 eggs 1 teaspoonful soda 2 teasp; 2 cupfuls milk 2 eggs 1 teaspoonful soda 2 teaspoonfuls ginger 1 teaspoonful; 2 eggs 1 teaspoonful soda 2 teaspoonfuls ginger 1 teaspoonful each cloves

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,380 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 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: Builds the structure that holds the pudding together.
Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure as they set.
Suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture and a dark colour.
Soda: Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that lifts the batter.
Milk: Hydrates the flour and loosens the batter.

The step that matters

Steam for 3 hours. Steaming cooks the pudding gently and evenly with moist heat. If the water boils low or the steam drops, the pudding cooks unevenly and can turn dense or dry.

Swap the currant

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

Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Orangefits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, clove, raisin, cinnamon, flour, sugar, 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2

Plum Pudding

Plum Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the batter

Steam and serve

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)