Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Plum Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
Chop the suet, peel, and chop the almonds.
Clean and chop the currants.
Stone the raisins and clean the sultanas.
Grate the lemon rind and squeeze the juice.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl with the eggs, brandy, and milk.
Add the milk gradually to avoid making the pudding too wet.
Pour the mixture into greased basins.
Cover with greased paper and tie a cloth tightly over the top.
Boil for six hours.
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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Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,738 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Currant + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (currant, lemon, milk, brandy):
- Almondthe original
- Peasfits about as well
- Walnutfits less well
- Chestnutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against currant, lemon, milk, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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