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Dessert

Christmas Plum Pudding

A steamed pudding made with grated bread, milk, currants, raisins, citron, brown sugar, eggs, and soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Jacqueline Harrison Smith (ed.) · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,662 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Christmas Plum Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine 2 pts grated bread, 1 pt fresh milk, 2 pts currants, 2 pts stoned raisins, ½ lb citron (cut fine), 6 tbsp brown sugar, 6 beaten light eggs, and 1 tsp soda dissolved in hot water, and mix all together.

  2. Boil for three hours in a pudding bag that has been scalded and well floured.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

582Calories
19 gProtein
6 gFat
108 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

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. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  2. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Sugar + breadtop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,638 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Grated bread
Absorbs the liquid and gives the pudding its body and crumb.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set it as the pudding cooks.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a rich, moist flavour.

The step that matters

Preparing the pudding bag. Scalding and flouring the bag creates a non-stick barrier so the pudding releases cleanly. Keeping the pudding fully submerged while it boils ensures it cooks evenly through to the centre.

“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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