Why it works: Flour and raisin 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
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
In a large bowl, combine the suet, bread crumbs, flour, and baking soda.
In another bowl, mix the milk, molasses, and cream of tartar until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
If desired, fold in the currants and raisins.
Steam and serve
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold or bowl.
Steam for about 1.5 to 2 hours until cooked through.
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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Currant + raisintop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,180 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Bread + milktop 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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk 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
- Melts during steaming, adding richness and a moist, tender crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides structure so the pudding holds its shape after steaming.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses and cream of tartar to lift the batter.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and a deep flavor to the pudding.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acidity that reacts with baking soda to help the pudding rise.
The step that matters
Stir the wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, which can make the pudding tough and dense. Stopping as soon as the batter comes together keeps it tender.
Swap the currant
The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, flour, milk, molasses, cream, raisin):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Datesfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, flour, milk, molasses, cream, 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.
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