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Dessert

Steam Pudding

A steamed pudding made from flour, suet, soda, raisins, milk, molasses, brown sugar, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Sterrett, Laura C · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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 ↓

Steam Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Add 1 quart flour.

  2. Add 1 tea-cup chopped suet.

  3. Add 1 tea-cup molasses.

  4. Add 1 tea-spoon soda.

  5. Add a little salt.

  6. Add 1 coffee-cup chopped raisins or currants.

  7. Add 1 tea-cup brown sugar.

  8. Add 2 tea-cups sweet milk.

  9. Mix, then steam for three hours.

Serve

  1. Serve with puddings and sauces.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

715Calories
22 gProtein
10 gFat
136 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Sterrett, Laura C. 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. 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.

  1. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Tea + coffeetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methyl-3-(methyldithio)furan (thiamin, meat).

  3. Coffee + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,202 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  4. Tea + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together738 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  5. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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 steams.
Suet
Adds richness and a moist, tender texture to the pudding.
Soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses to help the pudding rise.
Molasses (in the method)
Adds dark color, moisture and a deep, slightly acidic sweetness.
Sweet milk
Hydrates the flour to form a batter and adds moisture.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, tea, coffee, milk):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinthe original
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Peachfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, tea, coffee, milk. 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.

More steamed pudding recipes

Molasses 10Apple 3English 3 See all 94 →

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