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Dessert

Suet Pudding

A steamed pudding made with suet, molasses, milk, raisins, currants, and optional spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, combine the suet, molasses, milk, raisins, currants, baking soda, and chopped citron.

  2. Gradually add flour until the mixture is as stiff as cake batter.

  3. If desired, mix in bread crumbs, salt, and spices.

Steam and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.

  2. Steam for about 2 hours or until cooked through.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

  4. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Suet
Adds richness and a moist, tender crumb as it melts during steaming.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark colour and a deep flavour to the pudding.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the stiff batter together as it cooks.
Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses's acidity to help the pudding rise and lighten.
Raisins
Add chewy sweetness and moisture throughout the pudding.

The step that matters

Adding the flour to a stiff batter. Too little flour leaves a loose batter that can collapse or turn soggy, while too much makes the pudding dense and dry. Adding it gradually lets you judge the stiffness of the batter by eye, as the record directs, so the texture sets properly during steaming.

Swap the clove

The recipe marks clove as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, milk, raisin, currant, flour, bread, nutmeg):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Allspicefits about as well
  3. Clovethe original
  4. Cardamomfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, milk, raisin, currant, flour, bread, nutmeg. 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.

More suet pudding recipes

Lemon 28Boiled 19Steamed 12Potato 11Apple 10Raisin 10 See all 649 →

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