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
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine suet, bread crumbs, sweet milk, sugar, and molasses.
Dissolve baking soda in molasses until foamy, then stir into mixture.
Add flour and mix well.
Fold in beaten eggs and floured raisins.
Steam
Pour mixture into greased pudding mold and cover.
Steam for about 1.5 hours or until a skewer comes out clean.
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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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set during cooking.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses acidity to produce gas that lightens the pudding.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the gluten and starch structure that holds the pudding together.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich in texture.
- Orleans molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and moisture, and its acidity activates the baking soda.
The step that matters
Dissolve baking soda in molasses until foamy. Baking soda only leavens when it reacts with an acid. Dissolving it in the acidic molasses first lets the reaction start before baking, so the pudding rises evenly rather than leaving dense pockets.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, milk, sugar, molasses, flour, egg):
- Raisinthe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, milk, sugar, molasses, flour, egg. 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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