Why it works: Butter and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Chop the pulp of the lemons finely, discarding the thick white peel.
Stir the lemon pulp into the crushed crackers along with the melted butter and salt.
Gradually beat in the molasses and the grated lemon peel.
Bake and serve
Line two pie dishes with the pie crust, fill with the mixture, and bake without an upper crust.
Serve warm or cold; best when fresh.
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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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + molassestop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,123 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Lemon + molassestop 36% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,377 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter crackers
- Soaked and beaten, they thicken the filling and give it body.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a deep, rich flavor.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sharp acidity that balances the sweetness of the molasses.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, softer texture.
- Lemon peel
- Contributes concentrated citrus aroma and flavor from the oils in the zest.
The step that matters
Gradually beat in the molasses and the grated lemon peel. Adding the molasses slowly lets it blend evenly into the cracker mixture, so the filling stays smooth instead of lumpy or unevenly sweetened.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, molasses):
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Applefits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, molasses. 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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