Why it works: Sugar and buttermilk match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,973 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Suet Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the batter
In a large bowl, combine the suet, molasses, brown sugar, buttermilk, eggs, and baking soda. Mix well until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
Fold in the raisins.
Steam and serve
Pour the mixture into a greased mold.
Steam the pudding in a kettle with boiling water for several hours.
Serve hot.
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 + buttermilktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + buttermilktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together526 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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 rich and moist as it steams.
- Molasses
- Adds deep sweetness and dark color, and contributes moisture to the batter.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps give the pudding a soft texture.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and mild acidity that reacts with the baking soda.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help give the pudding its set structure.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk and molasses to produce gas that lightens the batter.
The step that matters
Steam the pudding in boiling water. The mold must be sealed and the kettle kept at a steady boil for the full time. Water that drops below boiling cools the pudding and it turns heavy and wet inside.
“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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