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 ↓
Brown Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Mix and season
In a large bowl, mix together molasses, sweet milk, suet (or melted butter), raisins, flour, and baking soda.
Add salt and spice to taste.
Steam
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam for 2 hours.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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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 color, deep sweetness, and moisture, and its acidity reacts with the baking soda.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that lightens the batter.
- Suet or butter
- Adds fat that makes the pudding tender and rich.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and loosens the batter.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of concentrated sweetness and chewy texture.
The step that matters
Steaming for 2 hours. Steam is moist heat that cooks the batter evenly without drying it. Gentle, steady steam sets the batter through, while too little heat leaves the center dense and underbaked.
“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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