Why it works: Lemon and sugar 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 ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the lemon base
Beat the yolks of the eggs with half the sugar.
Stir in the grated rind and juice of the lemon, or the juice of 2 small lemons and boiling water.
Beat over a basin of boiling water until the mixture thickens and resembles cream.
Fold and serve
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites, adding the remaining sugar until stiff.
Gently fold the egg whites into the lemon mixture.
Pour the mixture into a dish lined with lady fingers.
Serve cold.
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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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard as they heat, and whites add lightness when folded in.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps stiffen the egg whites for a stable foam.
- Lemon
- Provides acidity and fragrant flavour from the rind and juice.
- Lady fingers
- Line the dish, giving structure and absorbing some of the moist lemon mixture.
The step that matters
Beating the yolks over boiling water. Heating the egg yolks gently while beating thickens them smoothly. If the heat is too high or the mixture is left too long, the eggs can scramble and turn grainy instead of creamy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. 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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