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 ↓
Cabinet 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the Cottolene and sugar together.
Add the beaten egg yolks, then mix in the milk and lemon juice and rind.
Stir in the beaten egg whites until well combined.
Assemble and bake
Spread a thick layer of jam at the bottom of a baking dish.
Pour the pudding mixture over the jam.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Finish and serve
Top with meringue, brown it, and serve cold with sugar and wine.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,742 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Provides the bulk and structure that holds the pudding together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and bind the custard, while whites add lift and help it set.
- Cottolene (or vegetable shortening)
- Fat that tenderises the batter and carries flavour through the pudding.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps form a soft, even base when creamed with fat.
- Cream or milk
- Adds moisture and richness so the pudding stays tender rather than dry.
The step that matters
Stir in the beaten egg whites. Beaten whites hold air that lifts the pudding as it bakes. Stirring gently keeps that foam intact; overmixing deflates it, leaving a denser, heavier pudding.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, sugar, raisin, cream, lemon):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Orangefits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, sugar, raisin, cream, lemon. 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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