Why it works: Flour and saffron work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 447 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Saffron 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.
Prepare
In a large bowl, mix the chopped suet with the flour (or flour and crumbled French roll).
Make the batter
In another bowl, beat the eggs and combine with the cream, cognac, and boiled saffron.
Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until well combined.
Steam and serve
Transfer the mixture to a greased pudding mold and steam for about 1 hour.
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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Flour + saffrontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together447 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + saffrontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together243 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Kidney suet
- Adds fat that melts during steaming, keeping the pudding rich and tender.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the pudding together as it steams.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help set the pudding's structure as it cooks.
- Heavy cream
- Adds moisture and richness, giving the pudding a soft, tender crumb.
- Saffron
- Gives the pudding its distinctive aroma, flavor and golden color.
The step that matters
Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until well combined. Thorough mixing spreads the liquid evenly through the dry ingredients so the pudding steams uniformly, without dry pockets or dense streaks.
Swap the saffron
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, cream):
- Nutmegfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Capersfits better
- Saffronthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, cream. 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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