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 ↓
Plum Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
In a large pan or basin, combine raisins, currants, chopped suet, salt, grated nutmeg, and powdered sugar.
Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture along with the milk.
Sift in the flour gradually while mixing until well combined.
Boil and serve
Boil the mixture for 6 hours.
For a larger quantity, increase the ingredients proportionally.
Serve with brandy sauce.
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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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and add structure and richness as they set during boiling.
- Flour
- Gives the pudding body and structure, firming the batter as it cooks.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender as it cooks.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness, chewy texture and concentrated fruit flavour.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps form a smooth, loose batter.
The step that matters
Sifting in the flour gradually. Adding flour slowly while mixing prevents lumps and lets the batter reach an even consistency, so the pudding sets uniformly rather than in pockets of dry flour.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, nutmeg, sugar, egg, milk, flour):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, nutmeg, sugar, egg, milk, 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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