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
Mix the batter
In a large bowl, combine the suet, sour milk, molasses, raisins, flour, baking soda, ground cloves, and salt, and mix until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to a greased pudding mold.
Steam
Cover the mold with a lid or foil.
Steam 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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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 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).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,483 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour 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
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to lift and lighten the batter.
- Molasses
- Adds dark sweetness, moisture and deep flavour.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the pudding as it cooks.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas that helps the pudding rise.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of chewy sweetness throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Steam for the full 3 hours at a steady simmer. Steaming gently and evenly cooks the batter through without drying it out. If the water boils dry or the mold is left uncovered, the outside over-dries while the centre stays underdone.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, molasses, raisin, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Jalapenofits about as well
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, molasses, raisin, flour. 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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