Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Steam Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine molasses, buttermilk, flour, raisins, suet, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and baking soda, then mix until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased cake pan.
Steam and serve
Steam for 3 hours.
Serve with sauce.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Molasses
- Adds dark sweetness, moisture and a deep flavor to the batter.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure that holds the pudding together as it steams.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the pudding moist and tender.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk and molasses to help the pudding rise.
The step that matters
Steam for 3 hours. Steaming gently and steadily cooks the batter through with even moisture. If the water boils dry or the steam drops, the pudding can turn out dense or undercooked in the center.
“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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