Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 9,071 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the chopped raisins, suet, sugar, and molasses until well combined.
Dissolve the baking soda in the warm water and add it to the mixture.
Gradually add flour until you achieve a batter consistency.
Steam and serve
Pour the batter into a greased pudding mold.
Steam the pudding for 3 hours.
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.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Raisin + flourtop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,071 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + molassestop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Raisin + molassestop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Raisin + sugartop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together12,480 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Molasses + flourtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together10,318 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 10,318 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Molasses
- Adds dark sweetness, moisture, and a deep caramel flavour to the pudding.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas, lightening the pudding's texture.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich during steaming.
- Flour
- Provides structure by setting into a batter that holds the pudding together.
- Raisins
- Add chewy pockets of fruit sweetness throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in the warm water. Baking soda must be fully dissolved before it is mixed in, so it spreads evenly through the batter. Clumps can leave pockets of bitter residue and uneven rising.
“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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