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Dessert

Christmas Plum Pudding

A steamed dessert made with raisins, currants, suet, sugar, bread crumbs, candied peel, spices, eggs, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Christmas Plum Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Sift a little flour over the raisins and currants to prevent them from sticking together.

  2. In a large bowl, combine the raisins, sugar, currants, suet, and bread crumbs.

  3. Stir well, then add the candied peel, grated lemon rind, spices, and salt.

  4. Beat 4 eggs until frothy and pour over the mixture, stirring well.

  5. Add 4 tablespoons of flour.

  6. Add the brandy.

  7. Cover and leave in a cool place overnight.

Steam and finish

  1. The next day, add 4 more beaten eggs.

  2. Add 3 more tablespoons of flour.

  3. Steam the mixture for 8 hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

  4. Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,180 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the mixture and add structure as they set during steaming.
Beef suet
Adds richness and fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and give the pudding a soft, cake-like body.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a deep molasses flavour, and helps retain moisture.
Raisins
Provide chewy texture and concentrated fruit sweetness.
Brandy
Adds aroma and flavour, and helps preserve the pudding.

The step that matters

Steam the mixture for 8 hours. Steaming gently cooks the eggs and starch without drying the pudding. The water must keep boiling steadily for the full time, because a dropping pot lets the pudding turn heavy and undercooked in the centre.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, beef, sugar, bread, orange, lemon, nutmeg):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Cranberryfits better
  3. Limefits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, beef, sugar, bread, orange, lemon, nutmeg. 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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