Why it works: Raisin and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,180 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, creamy. The science ↓
Oatmeal Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the mixture
In a large bowl, combine the oats and enough milk to cover them.
Add the raisins, currants, and suet to the mixture.
Crack the eggs into the bowl and mix well.
Season with salt and spices to your taste.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until set.
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 + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Oats + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,119 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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Oats + raisintop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together218 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Milk + curranttop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oats
- Provide the bulk and body of the pudding, soaking up the milk.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set when baked, giving the pudding its structure.
- Milk
- Softens the oats and adds moisture to the pudding.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
- Currants
- Add tart, concentrated fruit flavour and chewiness throughout the pudding.
- Suet
- Adds richness and fat, contributing a tender texture and flavour.
The step that matters
Bake until set. The eggs must coagulate fully to hold the pudding together. Underbaking leaves it loose and wet, while the baking time and temperature control how firm and moist the result becomes.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oats, milk, raisin, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Datesfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against oats, milk, raisin, egg. 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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