Name: Lemon Pudding
Ingredients: 1 lemon; 1½ cups water; 3 cups white sugar; 3 eggs; 2 tablespoons butter; a few tablespoons grated crackers or bread

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Lemon Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lemon

Peel the lemon and boil the peel in water until tender, changing the water three times, for about 1½ hours.
Cut the boiled peel into small pieces and mix with the pulp, discarding the thick under skin and seeds.

Make the filling

Add water, sugar, eggs, butter, and grated crackers or bread to the lemon mixture.
Beat all ingredients together until light and pour into a rich pastry shell.

Finish

If desired, top with a meringue before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the filling and add richness and structure as they set.
Butter: Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture in the filling.
White sugar: Sweetens the filling and balances the lemon's sharpness.
Lemon: Provides the main citrus flavour and acidity, from both peel and pulp.
Grated crackers or bread: Absorbs liquid and thickens the filling for body.