Name: Suet Pudding
Ingredients: 1 cup suet, chopped fine; 1 cup molasses; 1 cup sweet milk; 1 cup raisins or currants; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon baking soda mixed in 1 tablespoon hot water

Why it works: Molasses and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,577 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Suet Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

In a large bowl, combine the chopped suet, molasses, sweet milk, raisins or currants, salt, and baking soda mixture. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.

Steam and serve

Steam in a pan for 3 hours.
Serve with wine or brandy sauce.

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.

Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,155 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,243 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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 pudding moist and rich as it steams.
Molasses: Provides sweetness, dark color, and a deep, moist texture.
Baking soda: Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas that lightens the pudding.
Raisins or currants: Add chewy pockets of fruit sweetness throughout the pudding.