Why it works: Raisin and flour 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 ↓
Boiled Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, mix the chopped suet, molasses, sweet milk, raisins, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, flour, and sugar (if using) until well combined.
Beat the mixture thoroughly.
Boil the pudding
Place the mixture in a square of cloth that has been wet in boiling water and floured.
Tie the cloth securely and place it in boiling water.
Boil hard for three hours, turning the pudding several times during cooking.
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 + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Raisin + sugartop 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
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it cooks.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pudding together.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a moist, dense texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses and cream of tartar to lift the pudding.
- Cream of tartar
- Provides acid that reacts with baking soda to help the pudding rise.
- Raisins
- Add chewy pockets of sweetness throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Keep the cloth tightly tied and the water boiling. A loose cloth lets water soak into the pudding, making it soggy, while water that drops below a hard boil cooks it unevenly and slows the rise. Turning the pudding during the long boil helps it cook evenly and keeps its shape.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, milk, cream, flour, sugar):
- Raisinthe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Strawberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, milk, cream, flour, sugar. 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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