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Dessert

Simple Plum Pudding

A steamed bread pudding with raisins, almonds, citron, and brown sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Simple Plum Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the bread in milk and squeeze out excess.

  2. In a bowl, combine the soaked bread, raisins, almonds, citron, brown sugar, and baking powder.

  3. Beat the egg whites separately and fold them into the mixture.

  4. Grease a pudding mold and pour in the mixture.

Cook and serve

  1. Boil in a pot for about 1.5 hours.

  2. Serve with lemon sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

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

  4. Bread + raisintop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,111 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Bread + almondtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together858 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetylpyrazine (roast).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Beaten whites trap air and add lift and structure to the pudding.
Baking powder
Releases gas during cooking, helping the pudding rise and become lighter.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and contributes to the deep flavor of the pudding.
White bread
Soaked in milk, it binds the mixture and adds moisture and body.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whites beaten separately hold air only if they are not deflated. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps the air in the batter so the pudding stays light.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, raisin, sugar, egg):

  1. Almondthe original
  2. Chestnutfits about as well
  3. Pecansfits less well
  4. Nutsfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, raisin, sugar, egg. 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.

More plum pudding recipes

English 165Christmas 156Sauce 71Eggless 34Baked 33Vegetable 19 See all 649 →

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