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
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine buttermilk, molasses (or sugar), raisins, suet, and baking soda.
Stir in enough flour to make a stiff batter.
Transfer the mixture to a greased pudding mold.
Steam and serve
Steam for 2 hours.
Serve warm.
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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Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together526 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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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Buttermilk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda, producing gas that lightens the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to release carbon dioxide, helping the pudding rise.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, depth of flavour and moisture; sugar can be used instead.
- Flour
- Provides structure, forming a stiff batter that holds its shape while steaming.
The step that matters
Adding enough flour for a stiff batter. Flour sets the structure of the pudding. Too little leaves it loose and collapsing, while the baking soda and buttermilk need enough body to hold the gas they release during steaming.
“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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