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 ↓
Snow Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gelatine base
Soak gelatine in cold water for 2 hours.
Heat the gelatine mixture over low heat, stirring until dissolved, then remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Beat the gelatine until frothy using an egg beater.
Combine and set
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, then add lemon juice and sugar to taste.
Combine the gelatine mixture with the egg white mixture and mix well.
Pour into a mold and refrigerate until set.
Serve
Serve with soft custard made from the yolks of the eggs.
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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm, wobbly structure as it cools.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff foam, they lighten the texture and add airy volume.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the sugar.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the soft custard served alongside, adding richness and smoothness.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites until stiff. Egg whites must reach stiff peaks to trap air and give lightness. Adding them to gelatine that is too warm or too cool can deflate the foam, so the mixture should be combined gently and thoroughly.
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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