Why it works: Corn and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,927 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Old Fashioned Pudding Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the cornstarch with a small amount of water to create a slurry.
In a saucepan, combine the corn syrup and water.
Gradually add the cornstarch mixture while stirring.
Cook over medium heat until thickened.
Stir in the lemon juice and serve over pudding.
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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Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + syruptop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,678 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Syrup + lemontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,235 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the liquid into a smooth sauce as its starch swells when heated.
- Corn syrup
- Adds sweetness and a glossy, smooth body to the sauce.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the syrup.
The step that matters
Gradually add the cornstarch mixture while stirring. Adding the slurry slowly while stirring keeps starch granules dispersed, so the sauce thickens smoothly instead of forming lumps.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, syrup):
- Vanillafits better
- Limefits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, syrup. 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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