Why it works: Lemon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. 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 custard
Beat the yolks of the eggs in a bowl.
Add sugar and dissolve cornstarch in a little cold water, then stir into the yolks.
Pour in the boiling water and add lemon juice and grated peel.
Mix in the butter and pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake and brown
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes.
Once done and cooled, spread the sweetened beaten egg whites on top.
Return to the oven to brown the top lightly.
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 + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Egg + buttertop 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 + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness as they set during baking.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon liquid into a smooth, sliceable filling as it heats.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright lemon flavor to the filling.
- Egg whites
- Form a light meringue topping that browns in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture.
The step that matters
Adding the boiling water to the yolk mixture. Cornstarch only thickens fully when it reaches a boil, so the filling needs enough heat to set. Stirring as the liquid goes in keeps the starch dispersed and prevents lumps.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter. 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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