Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the base
Scald the milk.
Pour the scalded milk over the bread crumbs.
Let the mixture cool.
Beat the egg yolks and granulated sugar together.
Mix in the corn starch.
Add the grated lemon rind just before baking.
Bake
Bake for 20 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
Top and serve
Beat the egg whites and powdered sugar together.
Add the lemon juice.
Spread the egg white mixture on top.
Return the pudding to the oven for a few minutes.
Serve cold.
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.
-
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softens the bread crumbs into a custard base.
- Bread crumbs
- Provide body and structure that holds the soft pudding together.
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken and set the custard, while whipped whites form a light topping.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the custard so it holds its shape when cool.
- Lemon
- Its juice adds acidity and its grated rind adds fragrant citrus aroma.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
The step that matters
Returning the pudding to the oven after the topping. Egg whites set and lightly brown quickly in heat. Too little time leaves the topping soft and raw, while too long dries it out and makes it tough and spongy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, bread, corn, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, bread, corn, sugar, egg. 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.
More lemon pudding recipes
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Bread Pudding153 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.