Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Plain Pudding Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the sauce
Combine one pint water, two tablespoonfuls sugar, one tablespoon cornstarch, the peel and juice of one lemon.
Put the mixture in a double boiler and cook.
Let boil a couple of minutes, then add the dissolved cornstarch.
Let boil until clear, strain, and serve.
Flavor
Flavor with any good fruit juice.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the tartness of the lemon.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells in the hot liquid.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and aroma from its juice and peel.
The step that matters
Adding the dissolved cornstarch. Cornstarch must be fully dissolved before it goes in, or it forms lumps. The mixture then needs to boil until clear so the starch fully swells and thickens, and the raw starch taste cooks off.
“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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