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 ↓
Carrot Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the vegetables
Grate the carrots and potatoes.
Steam the grated vegetables until tender.
Mix and steam
In a bowl, mix the steamed vegetables with sugar, flour, butter, baking soda, currants, raisins, salt, and spices.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam the pudding for about 1 hour or until set.
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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Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,107 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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
- Carrots
- Provide the bulk and moisture that give the pudding its soft, moist body.
- Potatoes
- Add starch and body, helping the pudding hold a soft, tender crumb.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that sets the pudding as it steams.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the mixture to lighten it and help it rise.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps keep the pudding moist.
The step that matters
Steaming the pudding. The pudding sets through gentle steam heat. If the water boils dry or the mold is sealed poorly, the pudding can dry out or turn heavy and uneven. Keep steady moisture and check that it is set before serving.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, potato, sugar, flour, butter, raisin):
- Figfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, potato, sugar, flour, butter, raisin. 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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