Why it works: Almond and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Almond Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream together the sugar and butter until smooth.
Beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl.
Blend the blanched almonds with a few drops of rose water until smooth.
Make the filling
Gradually mix the egg yolks and almond mixture into the butter and sugar, alternating with the lemon juice and zest.
Bake
Pour the mixture into small pie plates lined with rich pastry.
Bake until set and lightly golden.
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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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Rose + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,174 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg yolks bind the filling and help it set into a custard-like texture when baked.
- Butter
- Fat that creams with the sugar to give the filling a rich, tender body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and, creamed with butter, helps trap air for a smoother texture.
- Blanched almonds
- Ground into the filling to provide the main almond flavour and body.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the sugar and butter.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolks and almond mixture gradually. Adding the yolks slowly while mixing keeps the butter and sugar emulsified, so the filling stays smooth instead of curdling or separating.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, almond, rose):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, almond, 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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