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 ↓
Christmas Plum Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit and suet
Slice the raisins in half.
Wash, dry, and pick the currants.
Mince the suet very fine, using a sprinkle of flour if it sticks to the chopper.
Cut the citron into small thin pieces.
Sprinkle the raisins, citron, currants, and suet with the ¼ pound of flour.
Mix and fill the mold
Mix all the dry ingredients well together.
Moisten the mixture with the yolks of the eggs, brandy, and then fold in the egg whites.
Press the pudding into a buttered mold and tie it down securely.
Boil and serve
Plunge the mold into boiling water and let it boil steadily, covered, for 6 hours.
If made in advance, re-plunge it in boiling water and boil for at least 2 hours on the day it is to be served.
Serve with 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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Raisin + flourtop 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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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
- Eggs
- Yolks moisten and bind the mixture, while whites folded in add lightness and help it set.
- Suet
- Solid fat that melts during boiling, adding moisture and a rich texture to the pudding.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb the liquids and give the pudding its body and crumb structure.
- Raisins
- Provide sweetness and chewy texture as the main fruit.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and a molasses flavour that deepens the pudding.
- Flour
- Coats the fruit and suet so they stay spread out, and gives the batter structure.
The step that matters
Securing the mold and keeping the water boiling. The pudding is steamed in boiling water for hours. A loose lid lets water in and a fall in boil slows cooking, so the pudding can turn out soggy or unevenly cooked. Keep the mold sealed and the water boiling steadily throughout.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, currant, bread, egg, sugar, flour, brandy):
- Figfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Datesfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, currant, bread, egg, sugar, flour, 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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