Why it works: Flour and raisin 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 batter
Rub the butter into the flour until well combined.
Add the raisins, milk, eggs, sugar, salt, and ginger, then mix until smooth and pour into a pudding mold.
Cook
Boil for 4 hours in a pot of water.
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 + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Raisin + gingertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,242 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Butter
- Rubbed into flour to coat it and create a tender, crumbly texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it cooks.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness, chewy texture, and concentrated fruit flavor throughout the pudding.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help set it into a firm, sliceable pudding.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the flour so the batter becomes a smooth mix.
The step that matters
Boil for 4 hours in a pot of water. The pudding must cook long and at a steady boil so the eggs and flour set fully through the center. Too little heat or time leaves it wet and underset.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, raisin, milk, egg, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Capersfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, raisin, milk, egg, sugar. 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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