Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Golden Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a basin, mix the breadcrumbs with the suet, marmalade, and sugar. Stir the ingredients well together.
Beat the eggs until frothy and moisten the mixture with them. Mix everything until well combined and pour into a buttered mold or basin.
Boil and serve
Tie down with a floured cloth and boil for 2 hours.
Once done, turn out the pudding and sprinkle a little fine-sifted sugar on top before serving.
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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Breadcrumbs
- Provide the bulk and soft body that holds the pudding together.
- Suet
- Adds richness and fat that keeps the pudding moist as it steams.
- Marmalade
- Adds sweetness, fruit flavour and a little acidity to the pudding.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set as it cooks, giving a firmer structure.
The step that matters
Keep the cloth tightly tied and the water boiling for the full 2 hours. A loose cloth lets water seep in and make the pudding soggy, and if the water stops boiling the pudding cooks unevenly and may turn heavy, because steam is what cooks it through.
“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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