Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
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.
Make the custard
Mix the flour with part of the milk to form a smooth paste.
Add the lemon juice and rind, sugar, beaten egg yolks, and the remaining milk.
Bake the base
Line a plate with puff pastry ½ inch thick.
Pour the custard into the pastry.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until set.
Top and finish
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Add 2 tablespoons powdered sugar to the beaten whites.
Spread the meringue over the pudding.
Return to the oven.
Brown lightly.
Serve with cold cream.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + flourtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Thickens the milk mixture into a smooth, stable custard.
- Eggs
- Provide structure when the yolks set the custard and the whites form the meringue.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the meringue stay stable and brown.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard and gives it richness and body.
- Lemon
- Supplies acidity and aroma that flavour the custard.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Under-beaten whites collapse and weep, while over-beaten whites turn dry and grainy. Stiff, glossy peaks hold the meringue's shape and let it brown evenly in the oven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, flour, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, flour, milk. 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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