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 ↓
Paste Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the paste
Place 1 pt. of milk on the fire until it reaches the boiling point.
Take 3 tablespoonfuls of flour and stir it into the cold milk to form a paste.
Gradually add the paste to the boiled milk, stirring for a few moments to thoroughly cook the paste and sweeten to taste.
Remove from the fire and let cool.
Assemble and bake
Add a tablespoonful of butter and 3 beaten eggs beaten together, a generous glass of sherry or brandy, and 10 large seeded raisins.
Pour the mixture into a pudding dish lined with rich pie paste.
Bake until the pudding rises in the middle.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Thickens the milk into a paste that gives the pudding its body.
- Eggs
- Set the custard and add richness and structure as the pudding bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender texture.
- Milk (in the method)
- Forms the liquid base of the custard that thickens and sets.
The step that matters
Cooking the paste into the boiled milk. Flour added to hot liquid can clump; stirring while gradually adding the paste and cooking it for a few moments lets the starch hydrate and thicken evenly, so the custard is smooth rather than lumpy or floury.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, egg, pepper):
- Lemonfits better
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits about as well
- Limefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, egg, pepper. 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.
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