Why it works: Sugar and lemon 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 ↓
Snow Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the lemon base
Dissolve the gelatine in a little cold water.
Pour the softened gelatine into 1 cup of boiling water.
Add ⅓ cup of sugar and ¾ cup of lemon juice.
Let it boil once.
Strain the mixture and set it aside to cool.
Whip and set
When cool and beginning to thicken, add the beaten egg whites.
Continue beating until the mixture is stiff enough to hold its shape.
Pour into a melon mold and set on ice.
Serve with boiled custard.
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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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon 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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a light, firm structure as it cools.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into foam, they lighten the texture and give the pudding its airy body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the lemon juice.
- Lemon juice
- Provides acidity and bright lemon flavour that cuts the sweetness.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites after the mixture cools. If the mixture is still warm, the egg whites deflate and the foam cannot hold its structure. If it is too cold and set, the whites will not blend evenly. Wait until it just begins to thicken, then beat until stiff enough to hold its shape.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. 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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