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 ↓
A Richer Raisin Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix the raisins, beef suet, flour, salt, nutmeg or lemon rind, and eggs.
Gradually add milk until the mixture forms a very thick batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake for a few minutes longer than the previous pudding recipe.
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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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Raisins
- Provide sweetness and moisture, becoming plump and tender as the pudding bakes.
- Beef suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich in texture.
- Flour
- Provides structure as its starch sets during baking.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, cohesive pudding.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and forms the batter, controlling its thickness and moisture.
The step that matters
Adding the milk gradually. Flour must hydrate evenly to form a thick batter. Adding milk too quickly can make the mixture loose, so the pudding may bake wet and fail to set firmly.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, beef, flour, egg, milk):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
- Jalapenofits less well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, beef, flour, egg, milk. 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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