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 ↓
Raisin Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine dripping, flour, and baking powder; rub together until fine and crumbly.
Add mixed spice, finely chopped candied lemon peel, castor sugar, and stoned raisins; mix well.
Beat the eggs and add milk; combine with the dry ingredients.
Pour the mixture into a well-buttered tin or pie dish.
Bake and serve
Bake for 1 hour until done.
Turn the pudding onto a hot dish, sprinkle with castor sugar, and serve hot.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and set the pudding into a tender, sliceable structure as they cook.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure of the pudding as its starches set during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the pudding rise and become light.
- Dripping
- Adds fat that makes the crumb tender and rich, rubbed into the flour for a crumbly texture.
- Stoned raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy pieces throughout the pudding.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and adds a light sugar crust when sprinkled on top.
The step that matters
Bake until done. Baking for the full hour lets the egg and flour proteins and starches set through the centre. Pulling it early can leave a wet, dense middle, while overbaking dries the crumb.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, sugar, raisin, butter, flour):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, sugar, raisin, butter, flour. 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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