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 ↓
Suet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Combine suet, molasses, raisins, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
Add flour gradually until the mixture is stiff.
Transfer the mixture to a greased pudding mold.
Steam for 3 to 4 hours until cooked through.
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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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Suet
- Adds richness and moisture, and keeps the pudding tender as it steams.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture to the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lift and lighten the pudding.
- Flour
- Provides structure, stiffening the mixture so it holds its shape in the mold.
The step that matters
Add flour gradually until the mixture is stiff. Adding flour in small amounts lets you judge when the batter is stiff enough to hold its shape. Too much flour makes the pudding dense and dry, while too little leaves it heavy and wet.
“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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