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 ↓
Lemon Pudding
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 the custard
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, stir together the egg yolks, sugar, water, lemon rind, and lemon juice.
Soften the crackers or cake slices in warm water and lay them in the bottom of a baking dish.
Pour the custard mixture over the crackers or cake.
Bake until firm.
Top and brown
Beat the egg whites until frothy, then add the sugar and beat well.
Pour the frosting over the baked custard and return to the oven to brown.
Serve warm or 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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Sugar + lemontop 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).
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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the lemon custard as they set in the oven.
- Egg whites
- Whipped with sugar to form a light topping that puffs and browns.
- Lemon juice
- Adds the tart acidity that balances the sweetness of the custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps the egg whites hold their structure.
- Crackers or cake slices
- Form a soft base that soaks up the custard as it bakes.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until frothy, then add the sugar and beat well. Egg whites need to be whipped to a stable foam before sugar is added so the topping holds its volume. Underbeaten or deflated whites will weep and brown unevenly in the oven.
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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