Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Citron 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line a pie plate with the pie crust.
Layer 2 slices of citron in the crust.
Make and bake
In a bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, and egg yolks until well combined.
Pour the mixture over the citron layers.
Bake until set and golden brown.
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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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Set the custard as they cook, giving the filling structure and richness.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a rich, tender texture in the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it brown in the oven.
- Sliced citron
- Provides the characteristic citrus flavour and aroma beneath the filling.
The step that matters
Bake until set and golden brown. Egg yolks thicken as they heat, so underbaking leaves the filling runny while overbaking can make it curdle and turn rubbery. Watch for a set centre and light browning.
“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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