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, with Brandy or Rum
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the batter
In a large bowl, mix the flour, suet, brown sugar, raisins, currants, baking powder, and mixed spices.
Gradually add the milk and stir until well combined.
Pour in the brandy or rum and mix thoroughly.
Steam and serve
Transfer the mixture to a greased pudding mold.
Cover the mold with a cloth and steam for 2 to 3 hours.
Let it cool slightly before serving.
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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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,768 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pudding together as it steams.
- Suet
- Adds fat that gives the pudding a rich, moist, tender texture.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and contributes to the pudding's dark color and flavor.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that helps the pudding rise and become lighter in texture.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and binds the dry ingredients into a moist batter.
The step that matters
Steam for the full time. Steaming gently and steadily cooks the batter through without drying it out. Letting the water boil down or the mold sit uncovered would lead to an unevenly cooked, dry pudding.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, raisin, milk, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Apricotfits about as well
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, raisin, milk, brandy. 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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