Why it works: Apple and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,551 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Bich Baked Apple Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the apples
Peel, core, and cut the apples as for sauce.
Place the apples in a saucepan with just enough water to prevent burning and stew until reduced to a pulp.
Weigh the pulp.
Make the mixture
For every ½ lb. of pulp, add sifted sugar, grated lemon rind, and 6 well-beaten eggs.
Beat these ingredients together well.
Melt the butter and stir it into the mixture.
Bake
Place a border of puff pastry around the dish.
Pour the mixture into the dish.
Bake for about 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
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.
-
Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apple pulp
- Provides the main body and moisture of the pudding.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set it into a custard-like texture when baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a softer, tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and balances the tartness of the apples.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a crisp, golden border around the baked pudding.
- Lemon rind
- Adds a bright aroma that lifts the sweetness.
The step that matters
Stew the apples until fully reduced to a pulp. Any remaining chunks or excess liquid will change the texture and moisture of the pudding. Weighing the pulp afterward matters because the sugar and egg amounts are set as a ratio to that weight.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, lemon, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, lemon, 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.
You might also like
The 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.
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes