Name: Lemon Pudding
Ingredients: juice and peel of 2 lemons; 6 ounces loaf sugar, pounded; 1 good-sized teacup of grated bread crumbs; 4 eggs (2 whites reserved); 3 ounces fresh butter; puff pastry for lining the dish

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Lemon Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

juice and peel of 2 lemons
6 ounces loaf sugar, pounded
1 good-sized teacup of grated bread crumbs
4 eggs (2 whites reserved)
3 ounces fresh butter
puff pastry for lining the dish

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the filling

Soak the lemon juice and peel together, rubbing the peel with lumps of sugar.
In a bowl, combine the pounded sugar and grated bread crumbs.
Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture, excluding 2 egg whites.
Melt the butter and mix it into the batter.

Bake

Line a dish with puff pastry, pour in the mixture, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 45 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set into a custard-like texture when baked.
Bread crumbs: Add body to the batter and soak up liquid so the pudding holds its shape.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, giving the pudding a softer, more tender crumb.
Sugar: Sweetens the pudding and balances the sharpness of the lemon.

The step that matters

Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 45 minutes. Baking at this temperature for the full time lets the egg proteins set so the pudding firms up, while the pastry bakes crisp. Too short a bake leaves the filling runny; too long can make it dry and overcooked.