Name: Fruit Pudding, Without Eggs
Ingredients: 2 pounds sifted bread crumbs; 2 tablespoons flour; 2 teaspoons ground allspice; 2 teaspoons ground cloves; 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon; 1 pound brown sugar; 1 pound suet, finely chopped; 1.5 pounds seeded raisins; 1.5 pounds currants, well washed; 1 cup milk; butter for greasing; flour for dusting

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,536 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Bread crumbs: Form the bulk of the pudding and give it a soft, absorbent body.
Suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and a molasses note that deepens the flavor.
Raisins: Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the pudding.
Currants: Add tart, chewy bits that contrast with the sweet crumb.
Milk: Moistens the dry mixture so it binds and holds together when steamed.

The step that matters

Boil rapidly for 4 hours. The pail must stay in boiling water for the full time, or the pudding will cook unevenly and stay dense. Steam from the boiling water is what cooks and sets the pudding without eggs, so the kettle must be topped up to keep it boiling.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, flour, allspice, clove, cinnamon, sugar, raisin):

Figfits better
Vanillafits better
Orangefits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, flour, allspice, clove, cinnamon, sugar, raisin. 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.

Fruit Pudding, Without Eggs