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 bowl, combine chopped suet, sugar, boiling water, chopped raisins, salt, and baking powder.
Stir in enough flour to form a stiff mixture.
Steam and serve
Transfer the mixture to a greased pudding mold.
Steam for 3 hours.
Serve 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.
-
Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Suet
- Adds fat that melts during steaming, keeping the pudding moist and tender.
- Flour
- Builds the structure that holds the pudding together as it sets.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that lifts the batter, helping the pudding rise and become lighter.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and contributes to browning and flavor.
- Raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Stir in enough flour to form a stiff mixture. Flour provides the structure that keeps the pudding from collapsing during steaming. Too little flour leaves a loose batter that may not hold its shape, while too much makes the pudding dense and heavy.
“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.
More suet pudding recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.