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Dessert

A Cheap Pudding

A simple fruit pudding made with flour, bread crumbs, raisins, currants, mixed peel, almonds, suet, allspice, eggs, and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,781 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Mix the batter

  1. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

  2. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then add them along with the milk to the dry mixture.

  3. Mix everything well until combined.

Cook and store

  1. Press the mixture into greased basins or molds.

  2. Cover with a scalded and floured cloth.

  3. Boil steadily for 6 hours.

  4. Once done, store in a cool, dry place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Raisin + almondtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Currant + allspicetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,359 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl benzoate (fruity, sweet).

  3. Flour + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together8,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Raisin + curranttop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

  5. Bread + milktop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together11,363 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the mixture and help it set firm as it cooks.
Bread crumbs
Add bulk and absorb the milk to give the pudding body.
Flour
Provides structure, helping the pudding hold its shape when boiled.
Suet
Adds richness and fat, giving a moist, tender texture.
Raisins
Add sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.

The step that matters

Boil steadily for 6 hours. The pudding must be kept at a steady simmer so it cooks through evenly and sets firm. Letting the water drop too low or boil unevenly can leave it dense or undercooked in the centre.

Flavor stand-ins for the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, bread, raisin, currant, almond, egg, milk):

  1. Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
  2. Nutmegbetter flavor fit
  3. Allspicethe original
  4. Cloveabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, bread, raisin, currant, almond, egg, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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.

More fruit pudding recipes

Steamed 91Boiled 17Cold 14English 14Baked 12Tapioca 11 See all 210 →

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