Name: Sebastopal Pudding
Ingredients: 1 cup molasses; 1 cup suet; 2 cups flour; 2 cups mixed fruit; 2 eggs; 1 teaspoon baking soda; spices to taste; 1 cup milk

Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Sebastopal Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

Combine molasses, suet, flour, mixed fruit, eggs, baking soda, and spices in a large bowl.
If using chopped apple, add it.
Adjust flour as needed.
Pour in the milk and mix until well combined.

Cook

Transfer the mixture to a pudding mold.
Boil for four hours.

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.

Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,243 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

Molasses: Adds dark sweetness and moisture, and a deep, rich flavor.
Suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender as it cooks.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the pudding together.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set as it cooks.
Baking soda: Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lighten the texture and help it rise.
Milk: Adds moisture and helps form a smooth, cohesive batter.

“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.