Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. 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 pudding
Mix sugar, raisins, suet, sweet milk, eggs, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves in a large bowl until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.
Steam the pudding for about 2 hours or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Make the sauce
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add flour, sugar, and nutmeg to the melted butter, stirring until smooth.
Gradually add 1 pint of water, stirring continuously until the sauce thickens.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,070 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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 help set the pudding's structure as it cooks.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender.
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and helps keep the pudding moist.
- Cream of tartar
- Reacts with baking soda to create gas that helps the pudding rise.
- Baking soda
- Releases carbon dioxide with the acid in cream of tartar, lightening the texture.
The step that matters
Steaming the pudding. Steam gives gentle, even, moist heat that sets the batter without drying it. The leavening gas forms during cooking, so the mold should be sealed and the steam kept steady for the full time, or the pudding can turn dense.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, raisin, milk, egg, cream, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Clovethe original
- Gingerfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, raisin, milk, egg, cream, cinnamon. 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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