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
Make the pudding
In a large bowl, combine the chopped suet, raisins or currants, chopped apples, sugar, sour milk, and flour.
Add spices to taste and mix well.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam and serve
Steam the pudding for several hours until cooked through.
Serve warm with sauce.
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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Apple + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,104 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Raisin + appletop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,920 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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 richness and a moist, tender crumb as it melts during steaming.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Sour milk
- Adds moisture and acidity that works with the leavening to lighten the crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps give it a softer texture.
- Raisins or currants
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy bites throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Steaming until cooked through. Steaming cooks the pudding gently and evenly with moist heat. Too short a time leaves the centre dense and doughy, so it should be tested until fully set before serving.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar, milk, flour):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, milk, 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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