Why it works: Wine and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,427 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Grate the rind of the lemon and squeeze the juice into a bowl, removing the seeds.
Mix the lemon juice and rind together.
In a separate bowl, stir the sugar and butter until light and creamy.
Beat the eggs until smooth and thick like custard, then gradually stir them into the butter and sugar mixture.
Add the lemon juice and rind, mixing all ingredients well.
Prepare a puff pastry to cover the edges and bottom of a baking dish.
Bake
Pour the lemon mixture into the pastry and bake for 30 minutes in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
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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Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Lemon + rosetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,174 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Lemon + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,157 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Brandy + rosetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together560 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Provide structure and thickening as they set, giving the filling a custard-like body.
- Fine white sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps cream the butter into a light, airy base.
- Fresh butter
- Adds richness and fat, creating a smooth, tender texture when creamed with sugar.
- Lemon
- Supplies acidity and aroma from the juice and rind, flavouring the filling.
The step that matters
Beat the eggs until smooth and thick like custard, then gradually stir them into the butter and sugar mixture.. Adding eggs too quickly can cause the mixture to separate or curdle. Gradual addition lets the eggs blend evenly into the fat, keeping the filling smooth.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, wine, brandy, rose):
- Vanillafits better
- Currantfits about as well
- Raspberryfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, wine, brandy, rose. 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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