Why it works: Flour and raisin 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
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
In a bowl, combine suet, bread crumbs, flour, and currants and raisins if using.
In another bowl, mix milk with baking soda and cream of tartar.
Mix and steam
Add the milk mixture and molasses to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam for about 1.5 hours or until set.
Serve
Serve warm.
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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
-
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the cream of tartar and molasses acid to release gas, helping the pudding rise and lighten.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidic partner to the baking soda, producing gas bubbles that lift the batter.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture, and its acidity helps the leavening react.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
The step that matters
Steam until set. Steaming gently and for the full time lets the starches and flour set into a firm, moist crumb. Cutting it short leaves a wet, dense centre, while a hard boil can make the outside tough.
Swap the currant
The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, flour, milk, molasses, cream, raisin):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Datesfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, flour, milk, molasses, cream, raisin. 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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