Why it works: Lemon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the custard
Combine boiling water and lemon zest in a pot.
Mix 2 tablespoons of sugar in cold water. Stir the sugar mixture into the boiling mixture until cooled.
Squeeze the juice of 3 lemons into a cup.
Beat the egg yolks until light. Add lemon juice and 1 cup of sugar to the yolks.
Stir the yolk mixture into the boiling mixture. Cook the mixture for 2 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a pudding dish. Let the pudding cool.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar to the egg whites.
Spread a thin layer of the egg white mixture on the pudding. Drop the remaining egg white mixture in small lumps on top.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until lightly browned.
Chill and serve
Chill the pudding in the refrigerator. Serve cold.
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.
-
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the lemon custard as they cook and add richness to the pudding.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a stiff foam that forms the light, lightly browned topping.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sharp acidity that defines the pudding's flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Egg whites must be whipped to a stiff foam for the topping to hold its shape and bake light. Grease or leftover yolk in the bowl can stop them from whipping properly.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against 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.
More lemon pudding recipes
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 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.