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
Make the pudding
In a large bowl, mix the chopped suet, raisins, molasses, flour, and baking powder.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Boil for three and a half hours.
Make the sauce and serve
For the sauce, beat together the sugar, butter, egg, and wine or vinegar for fifteen minutes.
Heat the sauce until it is scalding hot.
Serve the pudding while hot with the sauce.
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 + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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 pudding moist and rich as it cooks.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pudding together.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that helps the pudding rise and turn light.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweetness.
- Egg
- Binds the sauce and gives it a smooth, thickened body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth texture to the sauce.
The step that matters
Beating the sauce for fifteen minutes. Beating incorporates air and blends the egg, butter, and sugar into a smooth emulsion. Heating it until scalding hot then thickens it gently, while overheating can curdle the egg.
“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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