Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Steamed Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Mix the suet, molasses, sugar, eggs, and sweet milk in a bowl.
Combine the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar in another bowl.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
Prepare and steam
Butter a dish or bowl.
Sprinkle raisins on the bottom.
Pour the batter into the prepared dish.
Steam for 2 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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour 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
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender as it steams.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure to the finished pudding.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that sets the pudding as it cooks.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that lightens the pudding.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acidity that works with the baking soda to help the pudding rise.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture to the batter.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding the flour in portions helps blend the batter evenly without overworking it, keeping it smooth and lumps from forming. Overmixing develops gluten, which can make the pudding dense and tough.
“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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