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 Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Mix the suet, molasses, milk, raisins or currants, salt, and baking soda together.
Add the bread crumbs and graham flour, then beat in the eggs.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Cook and serve
Steam for 3 hours or bake at 350°F (175°C) for 2 hours.
Serve with lemon 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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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Beef + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,032 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef suet
- Adds richness and fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender as it cooks.
- Molasses
- Provides sweetness, dark colour and a moist, slightly sticky crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, cohesive pudding.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas that lightens the texture.
- Dry bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and give the pudding body and structure.
- Graham flour
- Adds bulk and a coarse, nutty texture to the pudding's structure.
The step that matters
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold. Greasing keeps the dense, sticky batter from sticking to the mold, so the pudding releases cleanly once cooked.
“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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