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 ↓
White Suet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the suet.
Add the remaining ingredients in the order given, mixing in enough milk to create a stiff batter.
Cook
Butter the top of a 2-quart double boiler and steam the pudding over hot water for 2 hours.
Alternatively, tie the pudding in a cloth and boil for 2 hours.
Serve
Serve piping hot with butter and brown sugar.
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 + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender as it cooks.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the pudding once it sets with heat.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during cooking so the pudding rises and becomes light.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps it set firmly when steamed or boiled.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour to form a stiff batter that holds its shape.
The step that matters
Steaming or boiling for the full 2 hours. Gentle, sustained heat lets the batter set through and the leavening work evenly. Letting the water boil dry or stop simmering can leave the pudding dense or unevenly cooked.
“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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