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Shropshire Pudding

A boiled pudding made with beef suet, grated bread, brown sugar, nutmeg, brandy, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,032 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Shropshire Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Mix the suet, bread, sugar, and nutmeg together in a bowl.

  2. Add the brandy, egg yolks, and egg whites, and mix well.

Cook and serve

  1. Transfer the mixture into a cloth or mold.

  2. Boil for four hours.

  3. Serve with a sauce of melted butter, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of brandy.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Bread + nutmegtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,997 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Nutmeg + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,311 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Bread + brandytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together976 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef suet
Melts during boiling, adding richness and a moist, tender crumb.
Brown bread
Provides the bulk and structure that holds the pudding together.
Egg yolks
Add richness and help bind the mixture as it sets.
Egg whites
Add lightness and help the pudding set with a softer texture.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a deeper, molasses-like flavour.
Brandy
Adds aroma and warmth while flavouring the pudding and sauce.

The step that matters

Boil for four hours. Steady, gentle boiling must be maintained throughout, and the water should be kept topped up. Uneven heat or a drop in temperature can leave the pudding dense or soggy, and it cannot cook evenly if the water stops simmering.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, bread, sugar, brandy, egg):

  1. Nutmegthe original
  2. Cinnamonfits about as well
  3. Clovefits less well
  4. Gingerfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, bread, sugar, brandy, egg. 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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