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 ↓
Troy Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a large bowl, combine raisins, suet, molasses, milk, flour, and baking soda.
Stir the mixture until well combined.
Place the mixture into a pudding cloth and tie it securely.
Cook and serve
Boil the pudding in water for 3 hours.
Serve with sweet 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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Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the pudding together as it steams.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses to produce gas, helping the pudding rise and lighten.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture to the pudding.
- Suet
- Adds fat that enriches the texture and keeps the pudding moist.
- Raisins
- Add chewy pockets of sweetness throughout the pudding.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and adds moisture to form a batter.
The step that matters
Tying the pudding cloth. The cloth must be tied securely but with room for the pudding to expand as it steams. If it is packed too tightly or sealed poorly, the pudding can swell unevenly or water can seep in and make it soggy.
“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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