Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Suet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, mix the suet, baking soda, eggs, cinnamon, bread crumbs, cloves, molasses, and sugar until well combined.
Fold in the seeded raisins.
Transfer the mixture to a greased pudding mold.
Steam and serve
Steam for 3 hours until cooked through.
For hard sauce, beat together 1 cup powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons softened butter, and 1 stiffly beaten egg until smooth.
Serve the pudding with hard 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.
-
Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Clove + raisintop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,070 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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 fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender as it steams.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during steaming.
- Bread crumbs
- Soak up the molasses and give the pudding its body in place of flour.
- Molasses
- Adds dark sweetness and a deep flavor, along with moisture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lighten the batter and help it rise.
The step that matters
Steam for the full 3 hours. Steaming gently and steadily cooks the batter through without drying it out. Letting the water boil dry or lifting the lid often enough to drop the temperature can leave the centre dense or undercooked.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cinnamon, bread, molasses, sugar, raisin):
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
- Gingerfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cinnamon, bread, molasses, sugar, raisin. 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.
More suet pudding recipes
You might also like
Bread Pudding153 recipes
Molasses Cookies96 recipes
Molasses Cake90 recipes
Soft Ginger Bread85 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.