Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Suet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the pudding
Brown chopped suet, molasses, sweet milk, raisins, and blanched almonds cut into strips in oven.
Mix three and one-half cups flour, one egg, one teaspoon cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, soda, and a little salt with the browned mixture.
Steam the mixture for three hours.
Make the sauce and serve
Beat two eggs until very light, gradually add one cup powdered sugar, and continue beating.
Add one-half cup whipped cream and flavor with vanilla.
Serve pudding with sauce.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + clovetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,671 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the steamed pudding moist and rich.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the steamed pudding together.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture, and beaten until light, they add lightness.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the beaten eggs and dissolves easily into them.
- Whipped cream
- Adds richness and a light, airy texture.
The step that matters
Beat the eggs until very light. Beaten eggs trap air that lightens the mixture. Adding sugar gradually while beating helps it dissolve and keeps the foam stable. Under-beaten eggs give a denser result.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, cream, egg):
- Nutmegfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, cream, egg. 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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