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 ↓
Plum Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
In a large bowl, combine the flour, raisins, currants, and suet.
Add the beaten eggs and spices, then mix well.
Stir in enough milk to create a smooth batter.
Cook and serve
Transfer the mixture into a cloth or tin and boil for 2.5 hours.
Serve warm with butter and sugar or wine 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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Wheat + cinnamontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together537 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Wheat flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the pudding together as it cooks.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set firm during boiling.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
- Currants
- Add sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Transfer the mixture into a cloth or tin and boil for 2.5 hours. The pudding must be sealed and kept at a steady boil for the full time, because the batter sets slowly and uneven or interrupted heat can leave it dense or soggy.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, flour, raisin, currant, milk, egg, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against wheat, flour, raisin, currant, milk, egg, cinnamon. 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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