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
Make the batter
Combine suet, molasses, milk, raisins, flour, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and baking soda in a bowl.
Mix until well combined.
Steam and serve
Pour the mixture into a tightly sealed tin mold.
Boil the mold in water for 3 hours.
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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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pudding together as it cooks.
- Suet
- Adds richness and a moist, tender texture to the pudding.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a deep flavor to the pudding.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to help the pudding rise and lighten.
- Milk
- Moistens the flour so the batter forms a cohesive mixture.
The step that matters
Seal the mold tightly. A loose seal lets boiling water seep into the mold and make the pudding soggy and waterlogged. A tight seal keeps the batter moist while it steams.
“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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