Why it works: Milk and flour 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 ↓
Suet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the batter
In a large bowl, combine the suet, molasses, sweet milk, flour, baking soda, and fruit. Mix until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam and serve
Steam for 2 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.
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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 fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender as it cooks.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and moisture, and reacts with the baking soda.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together once set.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to release gas that lifts the batter.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the flour and loosens the batter into a pourable mix.
- Fruit
- Adds sweetness, moisture and flavor throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Steam for 2 hours. Steam gently and evenly sets the batter from the outside in. If the steam drops or the pot boils dry during the full 2 hours, the centre may stay underset and dense.
“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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