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 ↓
Fruit Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a large bowl, combine milk, molasses, eggs, and melted butter.
In another bowl, mix flour, raisins, baking powder, and salt.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam and serve
Steam for 2 hours.
Serve with a 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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + raisintop 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).
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
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets the pudding as it steams.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help it set firm during steaming.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that lifts the batter so the pudding rises.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and moisture to the batter.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Stirring in the dry ingredients. Stir only until the flour is combined. Overmixing develops gluten, which can make the pudding dense and tough rather than light.
“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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