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 ↓
Plum Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, mix the bread crumbs, suet, currants, raisins, candied peel, mixed spices, and blanched almonds.
Add the eggs and sweet milk, mixing to form a stiff batter.
Boil and serve
Divide the mixture into two quart bowls and boil for at least 5 hours.
Boil for an additional 3 hours just before serving.
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 + almondtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,781 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Raisin + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and give the pudding its body and structure.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set firm as it cooks.
- Currants
- Add concentrated fruit sweetness and chewy texture throughout.
- Raisins
- Add concentrated fruit sweetness and chewy texture throughout.
- Sweet milk
- Moistens the crumbs and eggs so the batter holds together.
The step that matters
Boiling the pudding for the full time. The pudding is set by long, steady heat in its bowls. Cutting the boil short leaves the centre wet and loosely set, so the full 5 hours and the final 3 hours should be kept.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, raisin, almond, egg, milk):
- Figfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, raisin, almond, egg, milk. 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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