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Perfection Plum Pudding

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Perfection Plum Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Rub the butter and sugar together until creamy.

  2. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

  3. Stir in the flour and milk until combined.

  4. Toast and grind the cake crumbs, then add to the mixture.

  5. Soak the spices in brandy and mix into the batter.

  6. Chop the almonds and pecans into large pieces and slice the citron thinly.

  7. Seed the raisins and wash the currants, then add all to the batter.

  8. Pour the mixture into a pudding mold and boil steadily for 5 hours.

  9. Serve with a liquid sauce seasoned with brandy and whipped cream.

  10. Before serving, pour brandy over the pudding and light it for flavor.

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Allspice + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,620 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, pecans, almond, allspice, ginger, clove, nutmeg):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, pecans, almond, allspice, ginger, clove, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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