Name: Suet Pudding
Ingredients: 1 teacup (½ cup) suet, chopped fine; 3 cups flour; 1 cup sour milk; 1 cup molasses; 2 cups raisins; cloves and cinnamon to taste; 1 teaspoon allspice; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon baking soda; 2 teaspoons baking powder

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓

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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,874 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,536 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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: Provides the structure that holds the pudding together.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, dark color and a deep flavor.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that lightens the pudding.
Baking powder: Releases gas during cooking to help the pudding rise.
Sour milk: Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds tang and tenderness.

“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.