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 ↓
Plum Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Combine flour, raisins, molasses, salt, lard, baking soda, egg, and milk in a bowl, then mix until well combined.
Place the mixture in a thick cloth bag or form.
Steam
Steam for three hours.
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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Coffee + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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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).
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
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses and milk to lighten the pudding as it steams.
- Egg
- Binds the ingredients and helps the pudding set firm.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture, and gives the pudding its rich flavour.
- Lard
- Adds fat, which tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
The step that matters
Steaming the pudding. Steam must be kept steadily going for the full three hours, because the pudding sets slowly as its starches and egg cook through. Letting the water boil dry or drop too low can leave the pudding dense or undercooked in the centre.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, molasses, egg, coffee, milk):
- Raisinthe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Bananafits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, molasses, egg, coffee, milk. 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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