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 ↓
Graham Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
In a bowl, stir together the molasses and sweet milk.
In another bowl, combine the Graham flour and raisins.
Mix the baking soda into part of the flour, then stir all ingredients together.
Steam the pudding
Pour the mixture into a round cake tin with a pipe in the center.
Steam for 2.5 hours.
Make the butter cream and serve
While steaming, beat the butter and powdered sugar together until creamy.
Mold the butter mixture into a brick and let it cool on a plate.
Once the pudding is done, cut it like cake and serve with a slice of the 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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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + buttertop 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).
Flour and butter 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 color, moisture and a deep sweet, slightly bitter flavor to the batter.
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk structure of the pudding, with a coarse, hearty texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses acid to produce gas that helps the pudding rise and lighten.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a creamy texture to the topping.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the butter topping and helps it become smooth and creamy when beaten.
The step that matters
Mix the baking soda into part of the flour, then stir all ingredients together. Baking soda needs an acid, such as the molasses, to react and release gas. Mixing it into part of the flour first spreads it evenly so it does not form pockets, and gentle stirring keeps the batter light for a well-risen pudding.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, milk, flour, sugar, butter):
- Raisinthe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Peachfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, milk, flour, sugar, butter. 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.
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