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 ↓
Cup Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix the cream of tartar and baking soda into the milk and molasses.
Sift in the flour while stirring thoroughly.
Add the chopped suet, raisins, currants, and salt, mixing well.
Cook and serve
If using a steamer, steam in a basin for 2 hours.
If not, place in a bag and boil for the same time, ensuring the water is boiling before adding the bag.
Serve with your preferred sauce.
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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Raisin + curranttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Beef + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the pudding as it cooks.
- Beef suet
- Adds richness and moisture, keeping the pudding tender as it cooks.
- Molasses or syrup
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture to the batter.
- Cream of tartar
- Reacts with baking soda to produce gas that helps the pudding rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to produce gas that lightens the batter.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Keep the water boiling before adding the bag. If the water is not already boiling, the pudding heats slowly and the leavening gas forms unevenly, which can leave the texture dense. Maintaining a steady boil keeps the cooking time consistent.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, beef, milk, molasses, raisin, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, beef, milk, molasses, raisin, cream. 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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