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 ↓
Graham Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, mix together the molasses, butter, egg, sweet milk, baking soda, graham flour, raisins, and spices until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam and serve
Steam the pudding for 3 hours.
Serve with any sauce, but it is best with sugar and cream.
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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Flour + raisintop 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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Molasses + raisintop 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 dark sweetness, moisture and a rich, treacle-like flavour to the pudding.
- Butter
- Adds fat, which contributes moisture and a tender crumb.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps give the pudding its structure as it sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lighten the batter and help it rise.
- Graham flour
- Forms the body of the pudding, with coarse bran giving a hearty, nutty texture.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of chewy sweetness throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Steaming the pudding for 3 hours. Steam must be kept steadily gentle and the mold sealed so the pudding cooks through evenly. Too little water or heat lets the water boil away and the pudding dry out or cook unevenly.
“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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