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
Make the pudding
Combine the beef suet, raisins, sugar, eggs, flour, and brandy in a basin.
Tie a wet cloth, doubled and well-floured, over the basin.
Boil
Place the basin in a pot of rapidly boiling water.
Boil for 5 to 6 hours, moving the pot occasionally.
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 + brandytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,768 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Beef suet
- Provides fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, cohesive pudding.
- All-purpose flour
- Thickens the mixture and gives it structure as it steams.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness throughout the pudding.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and flavour while contributing a little moisture.
The step that matters
Keep the water rapidly boiling throughout. Steady, vigorous boiling delivers consistent heat through the cloth and basin. If the water drops to a weak simmer for hours, the pudding cooks unevenly and may turn heavy or wet in the centre.
“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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