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Dessert

Shropshire Pudding

A boiled pudding made with beef suet, bread, 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

Make the mixture

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

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

Boil and serve

  1. Transfer the mixture into a cloth or mold.

  2. Boil for 4 hours.

  3. Serve with a sauce made 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
Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it cooks.
Brown bread
Provides the bulk and structure that holds the pudding together.
Egg yolks
Enrich the mixture and help bind it into a set, tender texture.
Egg whites
Add lift and help give the pudding a lighter, airier texture.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a caramel-like depth of flavour.
Brandy
Adds aroma and flavour, and moistens the mixture.

The step that matters

Boil for 4 hours. The pudding must cook long enough and at a steady boil so the suet melts and the egg sets through. Too little heat or time leaves it soggy or raw in the centre.

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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