Why it works: Lemon and rose are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,174 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Marlborough 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).
Make the filling
In a bowl, combine the stewed and strained apple, eggs, sugar, melted butter, lemon juice and peel, pounded mace, and rose-water, and mix well until fully combined.
Pour the mixture into a prepared pie crust.
Bake
Bake in the preheated oven 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Lemon + rosetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,174 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Mace + rosetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together498 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Apple + macetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together865 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the filling into a custard-like structure as they cook.
- Apple
- Adds moisture and body to the filling.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it brown lightly.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and bright aroma from the juice and peel.
The step that matters
Bake until just set. Eggs continue to firm as the pudding cools, so removing it when the center is just set and barely wobbles helps prevent a dry, rubbery texture.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, egg, sugar, butter, lemon, rose):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, egg, sugar, butter, lemon, 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.
You might also like
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.