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 ↓
Steamed Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the baking molasses and hot water.
Add the flour, butter, baking soda (dissolved in a little hot water), raisins, and salt. Stir until combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam and serve
Steam for 1½ to 2 hours.
Serve with your choice of pudding sauce.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + raisintop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,630 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Baking molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a rich, deep flavor to the pudding.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lighten the batter and help it rise.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
- Seeded raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Steam for 1½ to 2 hours. Steam must stay steady and the water must not boil dry, because gentle, moist heat cooks the batter through evenly. Uneven or dry heat can leave the center dense or the outside tough.
“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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