Name: Cherry Pudding, Boiled or Steamed
Ingredients: one cupful of sweet milk; two cupfuls of flour; two teaspoonfuls of baking powder; one pound of stale bread in a pint of hot milk; one-half pound of sugar; one pound of raisins; one pound of zante currants; one pound of beef suet; one cupful of finely-chopped beef suet; two cupfuls of fine bread crumbs; one cupful of seeded raisins; one cupful of well-washed currants; one cupful of chopped blanched almonds; one cupful of milk; a pinch of salt; a teaspoonful of salt; a cupful of sugar; a pint of hot milk; a pound of citron cut in slips; a tablespoonful of mace; a cupful of citron; a tablespoonful of warm water; a pint of flour; two eggs well beaten; two large teaspoonfuls of baking powder; eight eggs beaten to a cream; one glass of wine; one glass of brandy; one nutmeg; eight eggs

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 + almondtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,781 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Milk + breadtop 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 the pudding sets.
Flour: Forms the body of the batter so it holds its shape when cooked.
Baking powder: Releases gas that lifts the batter and makes the pudding light.
Sweet milk: Hydrates the flour and adds moisture to the batter.

The step that matters

Stir in the flour until the batter is stiff. Enough flour gives the batter body so the cherries stay suspended and the pudding holds its shape. A batter that is too thin lets the fruit sink and the pudding turn heavy and wet when boiled or steamed.

Swap the currant

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

Figfits better
Vanillafits better
Coconutfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, bread, sugar, raisin, beef, almond. 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
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Mace	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Brandy	not in our table	0

Cherry Pudding, Boiled or Steamed