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 ↓
Estell Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the beaten eggs, sugar, and butter.
Stir in the sweet milk, chopped raisins, currants, baking powder, and flour until well mixed.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam and serve
Steam for about 35 minutes.
Serve with cream or any sauce.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during steaming.
- Flour
- Forms the body of the pudding, giving it structure as it cooks.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during steaming, helping the pudding rise and become light.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Steam for about 35 minutes. Steaming cooks the batter gently and evenly with moist heat. Too little time leaves the centre dense and doughy, while the mold must stay covered so steam keeps the pudding moist.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, milk, raisin, flour):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, milk, raisin, flour. 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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