Why it works: Apple and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,551 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Apple Pudding Baked
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 the apples
Peel and quarter the apples.
Boil the apples with the lemon rind in just enough water to cover them until tender.
Drain and mash the apples until smooth.
Assemble and bake
Mix in the roll crumb, melted butter, egg yolks, egg whites, lemon juice, and sugar.
Pour the mixture into a dish lined with pastry.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until set.
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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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Cook down to a soft, smooth base that gives the pudding its body and moisture.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the mixture and help it set into a custard-like texture when baked.
- Egg whites
- Add lift and structure, helping the pudding set light rather than dense.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a tender crumb and smooth mouthfeel.
- Roll crumb
- Soaks up liquid and gives the pudding body so it holds together when set.
The step that matters
Drain and mash the apples until smooth. Excess water left in the apples will thin the mixture and stop it setting properly, while lumps leave an uneven texture. Draining well and mashing fully gives a smooth base that bakes into an even, sliceable pudding.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, butter, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, butter, 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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