Name: Apple-suet Pudding
Ingredients: 1 cup chopped apples (dried or green); 1 cup chopped suet; 1 cup flour; 2 cups cornmeal; 1 cup sweet milk; 1 cup molasses; 1 teaspoon baking soda; ¼ teaspoon salt

Why it works: Apple and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,104 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓

Apple-suet Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

In a large bowl, combine chopped apples, suet, flour, cornmeal, sweet milk, molasses, baking soda, and salt. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.

Steam and serve

Steam for 3 to 4 hours.
Serve with any liquid sauce.

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.

Apple + milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,104 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,243 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Apple + flourtop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,140 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

Suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
Cornmeal: Provides the bulk and coarse, tender texture of the pudding.
Flour: Helps bind the batter so the pudding holds its shape.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, dark color and a deep, slightly bitter flavor.
Baking soda: Reacts with the molasses to lighten the batter and help it rise.