Name: Christmas Pudding
Ingredients: 1 lb Raisins (stoned); 1 lb Currants; ½ lb Sugar; 1 lb Sultanas; 4 lb Mixed Peel, finely shredded; 4 lb Almonds, blanched and shredded; 2 lb Shredded Suet; ½ lb Flour; ½ lb Bread Crumbs; 6 Eggs; 1 teaspoon Mixed Spice; 4 teaspoons Coarse Sea Salt; 1 Lemon, grated; Milk (according to size of eggs)

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 ↓

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.

Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,781 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,655 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,180 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the mixture and set the pudding structure as it cooks.
Suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender during long steaming.
Flour: Provides starch that gives the pudding body and firmness.
Bread crumbs: Absorb liquid and soften the texture of the pudding.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps browning and flavour development.
Raisins: Add concentrated sweetness and moisture throughout the pudding.

The step that matters

Steam for the full 8 to 10 hours. Long, gentle steaming slowly heats the dense mixture to the centre so it cooks through and sets. Cutting the time short leaves the pudding wet and underdone in the middle.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar, almond, flour, bread, egg, lemon):

Figfits better
Vanillafits better
Orangefits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, almond, flour, bread, egg, lemon. 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.

Christmas Pudding