Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Lemon 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.
Make the pudding base
In a saucepan, cook the milk, corn starch, and 3 tablespoons of sugar over medium heat until thickened.
Beat the egg yolks in a bowl, then add them along with the lemon zest and juice to the thickened mixture.
Top and bake
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar.
Spread the beaten egg whites over the pudding mixture.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until the top is golden brown.
Serve warm.
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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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch thickens into a pudding.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the hot milk into a smooth, soft-set custard.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and thicken the custard; whipped whites add lightness to the topping.
- Lemon
- Zest and juice add fragrance and tartness that balance the sweetness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the tartness of the lemon.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the whipped egg white topping.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites until stiff. Whites must be beaten until stiff and spread over the pudding before baking. Under-whipped whites deflate and sink into the custard, and over-baking can make the topping weep and turn tough.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, corn, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, corn, 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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