Name: Ginger Pudding
Ingredients: 12 oz (3 cups) all-purpose flour; 12 oz (1 ½ cups) treacle (or molasses); 6 oz (¾ cup) finely chopped suet; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; 1 teaspoon baking powder; ½ pint (2 cups) milk; ¼ teaspoon salt

Why it works: Molasses and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,116 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Ginger Pudding

Ingredients

12 oz (3 cups) all-purpose flour
12 oz (1 ½ cups) treacle (or molasses)
6 oz (¾ cup) finely chopped suet
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ pint (2 cups) milk
¼ teaspoon salt

Directions

Make the pudding

Mix the flour, suet, ginger, baking powder, and salt together.
Stir in the treacle and milk until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a well-greased basin and cover with greased paper.

Steam and serve

Steam for about 2 hours.
Serve with custard, cornflour sauce, or sweet melted butter.

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.

Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,116 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,564 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ginger + milktop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,519 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

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

All-purpose flour: Provides the main structure that holds the pudding together as it steams.
Treacle or molasses: Adds sweetness, dark color, and a rich moisture to the crumb.
Suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender while it steams.
Baking powder: Releases gas that lightens the pudding and helps it rise.
Ground ginger: Provides the warm, spicy aroma that defines the pudding.