Name: Ginger Pudding
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 cup all-purpose flour; 2 cups cornmeal; 1 cup suet, chopped; 1 cup sugar; 1 cup treacle (or molasses); 2 tablespoons ground ginger; ½ teaspoon salt; Milk, as needed to form a stiff batter

Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Ginger Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

In a large bowl, combine baking powder, flour, cornmeal, suet, sugar, treacle, ginger, and salt.
Add milk gradually until a stiff batter forms.
Pour the batter into a greased pudding mold.

Steam and serve

Steam the pudding for 3 hours.
Serve with a sweet sauce.

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.

Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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 + 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 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

Cornmeal: Provides the bulk and a coarse, crumbly texture to the pudding.
Suet: Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and rich as it steams.
Treacle: Adds sweetness, dark color and a deep molasses flavor.
Baking powder: Releases gas during steaming, helping the pudding rise and lighten.
All-purpose flour: Gives structure so the batter holds together after steaming.