Name: Plain Plum Pudding
Ingredients: 1 cup seeded raisins, chopped fine; 1 cup suet, finely chopped; 1 cup molasses; 1 cup sour cream; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 3 cups all-purpose flour

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 ↓

Plain Plum Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the chopped raisins, suet, molasses, sour cream, baking soda, and flour.
Mix until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to a pudding mold or heatproof bowl.
Boil in a pot of water for 3 hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + creamtop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,408 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,481 recipes

Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).