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 ↓
English Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine suet, flour, chopped raisins, milk or cider, molasses, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam and serve
Steam for 3 hours until cooked through.
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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Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Suet
- Adds richness and a tender, moist crumb as it melts during steaming.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a deep, caramel-like flavor.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in the mixture to help the pudding rise and lighten.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Steaming the pudding for the full time. Steaming gently and steadily cooks the batter through without drying it. Lifting the lid or letting the water boil low can leave the centre undercooked or the texture uneven.
“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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