Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Christmas Pudding.— No. 3 {Impromptu)
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Whip the egg whites until stiff.
Stir the egg yolks into the mincemeat and beat for 2-3 minutes until well combined.
Alternately add the whipped egg whites and flour, beating well after each addition.
Butter a large mold thoroughly and pour in the mixture, leaving space for the pudding to swell.
Boil and serve
Boil for 5 hours steadily; if boiling stops for even a minute, it may cause a heavy streak in the pudding.
Serve on a hot dish with rich sauce if desired.
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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg 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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites give lift and a light texture, while yolks enrich and bind the batter.
- Flour
- Provides structure so the pudding holds its shape after boiling.
- Best mincemeat
- Supplies the main body, moisture, sweetness and spice flavour of the pudding.
The step that matters
Keep the water boiling steadily for the full 5 hours. A pause in boiling can cool the pudding enough to form a dense streak, so the water must stay at a steady boil throughout.
“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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