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Dessert

Lemon Pudding, Cold

A cold lemon pudding made with sugar, cornstarch, milk, butter, eggs, and lemon zest and juice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Lemon Pudding, Cold

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Beat the egg whites and yolks separately.

  2. Wet the cornstarch in some of the milk.

  3. Stir the wet cornstarch into the remaining milk, which should be boiling, stirring constantly and briskly for five minutes.

  4. Remove from the stove, stir in the butter, and let it cool.

  5. Beat the yolks and sugar together.

  6. Stir the yolk-sugar mixture thoroughly into the milk and cornstarch.

  7. Stir in the lemon juice and grated rind very gradually, making it very smooth.

  8. Boil the mixture altogether, not bake.

Set and serve

  1. While hot, pour into small cups or forms previously dipped in cold water, place aside; after one hour they will be ready.

  2. Let it cool to be eaten cold.

  3. Serve with cream and sugar.

  4. Use oranges in place of lemons if desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

845Calories
28 gProtein
26 gFat
124 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Eggs
Yolks thicken the custard and add richness, while whites are beaten separately in the method.
Cornstarch
Starch thickens the hot milk into a smooth, sliceable pudding as it cooks.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the pudding that thickens when heated with starch and eggs.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
Lemons
Juice and rind add acidity and bright lemon aroma to the custard.

The step that matters

Stirring the cornstarch into boiling milk. Starch granules can clump if added to hot liquid unevenly, so wetting the cornstarch first and stirring constantly keeps the pudding smooth while it thickens.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, butter, egg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits about as well
  3. Coconutfits about as well
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, butter, 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.

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