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Dessert

Old English Plum Pudding

A rich plum pudding made with sugar, currants, raisins, plums, apples, suet, bread crumbs, eggs, almonds, lemons, citron peel, nutmegs, rum, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Jacqueline Harrison Smith (ed.) · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Rum and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Old English Plum Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mix all thoroughly well together.

  2. Place in heavy porcelain basins, tying each basin in heavy pudding cloth.

Cook and serve

  1. Boil 4 hours when mixed and four hours when used.

  2. Serve with hot sauce flavored with brandy.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

56Calories
1 gProtein
1 gFat
5 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
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rum1/2 oz (15ml)32
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Brandynot in our table0

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

By Jacqueline Harrison Smith (ed.). Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

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.

  1. Rum + brandytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Rum + nutmegtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together646 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  4. Brandy + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,311 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Rum + lemontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

What each ingredient does

Jamaica rum
Adds deep, warm flavor and aroma to the pudding.
Old french brandy
Adds rich aroma and flavor, and is also used in the serving sauce.
Lemons
Add bright acidity and fresh citrus aroma that balance the sweetness.
Nutmegs
Add a warm, spiced aroma to the pudding.

The step that matters

Boil 4 hours when mixed and four hours when used. A long, steady boil cooks the pudding through and sets its dense texture, so it needs the full stated time in the pot.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rum, brandy, nutmeg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Pineapplefits better
  3. Apricotfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rum, brandy, nutmeg. 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.

More plum pudding recipes

English 165Christmas 156Sauce 71Eggless 34Baked 33Vegetable 19 See all 649 →

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