Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Suet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine the chopped suet, molasses, and hot water or milk.
Add the flour, raisins, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves, then mix until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam the pudding
Steam the pudding for 3 hours.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,070 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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 rich and tender as it steams.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and dark color to the pudding.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together after steaming.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that helps the pudding rise.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and pockets of concentrated sweetness.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm, spiced aroma to the pudding.
The step that matters
Keep the steam going for the full 3 hours. Steaming cooks the pudding gently and evenly. If the water boils dry or the steam drops, the pudding cooks unevenly and can turn dense and heavy.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, milk, flour, raisin, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, milk, flour, raisin, cinnamon. 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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