Name: Ginger Pudding
Ingredients: 1 lb flour; 3 oz suet; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; 1 egg; 4 oz syrup; ½ cup milk; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon sugar

Why it works: Syrup and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Ginger Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Warm the syrup in a small saucepan.

Make the batter

Beat the egg and mix it with the warm syrup and dry ingredients.
Add the milk and stir until combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pudding mold.

Steam

Steam for 2 hours.

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.

Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,842 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + gingertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,564 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Forms the main structure of the pudding as its starches set during steaming.
Suet: Adds richness and a tender, moist crumb as it melts into the batter.
Baking powder: Releases gas that lifts the batter so the pudding rises and stays light.
Egg: Binds the batter and helps it set firm while adding structure.
Syrup: Adds sweetness, moisture and a deep golden flavour to the pudding.