Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Snow Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gelatine base
Soak the gelatine in cold water until dissolved.
Pour boiling water over the gelatine and add sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind, and orange juice.
Stir until the gelatine and sugar dissolve completely. If necessary, place the dish in hot water for a few minutes to help dissolve.
Strain the mixture into a large bowl.
Set the strained mixture in a cold place.
Whip and set
When it begins to congeal, beat with an egg beater until white and stiff.
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.
Fold the stiff froth into the gelatine mixture.
Rinse a mold in cold water.
Pour the pudding into the mold.
Place the mold on ice or in a cold place for a few hours.
Unmold and serve
At serving time, dip the mold in warm water.
Wipe the mold dry.
Turn the pudding onto a flat dish.
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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Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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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 + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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 soft, sliceable structure as it cools.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to a stiff foam that lightens the pudding and gives it its snowy texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps balance the sharpness of the citrus juices.
- Lemon
- Adds bright acidity and aroma from the juice and rind.
- Orange juice
- Adds fruity sweetness and acidity along with the lemon.
The step that matters
Fold the stiff froth into the gelatine mixture. Fold gently so the foam keeps its air. Stirring hard knocks out the air, leaving a dense, flat pudding instead of a light one. Add the gelatine only once it has thickened slightly, otherwise the froth will deflate or separate.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, egg):
- Orangethe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Limefits less well
- Raisinfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, 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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