Why it works: Raisin and flour 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 ↓
Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine raisins, chopped suet or butter, molasses, sour milk, baking soda, and salt.
Gradually add flour until you achieve a stiff batter.
Transfer the mixture to a greased pudding mold.
Steam and serve
Steam for three to four hours.
Serve with brandy sauce.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Molasses
- Adds deep sweetness and a dark, rich flavour to the pudding.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to lighten the pudding as it cooks.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture to the batter.
- Suet or butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender, moist crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the stiff batter together as it steams.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until the batter is stiff. Adding flour slowly lets you judge the consistency. A batter that is too wet will steam into a heavy, soggy pudding, while one that is too stiff may turn out dense and dry.
“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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