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Dessert

Citron Pudding

A custard-like dessert made with butter, sugar, citron, eggs, rose water, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,645 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓

Citron Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Make the batter

  1. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

  2. Gradually add the rose-water and wine, mixing well.

  3. Whisk the eggs until thick, then add them gradually to the mixture.

  4. Stir in the chopped citron and let the mixture sit in a cool place for a short time.

Bake

  1. Line your plates with a rich pastry and pour in the mixture.

  2. Bake in the preheated oven until set.

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.

  1. Butter + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  2. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Rose + winetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together438 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 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

Eggs
Whisked eggs add structure and help the pudding set when baked.
Butter
Beaten with sugar, it adds richness and a tender texture.
Sugar
Beaten with butter, it sweetens and helps create a light, fluffy base.
Citron
Chopped citron adds tart, aromatic flavour and bits of texture throughout the pudding.

The step that matters

Adding the whisked eggs gradually. Adding eggs slowly to the creamed butter and sugar helps the mixture stay smooth and emulsified. Adding them all at once can cause curdling, which weakens the airy texture before baking.

“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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