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 says “a slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until creamy.
Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and add it to the mixture.
Grate the lemon peel and add it along with the lemon juice and melted butter.
Bake the pudding
Pour the mixture into a pie crust and bake until well done.
Top and finish
Beat the egg whites with 1 cup of sugar until stiff.
Spread the egg white mixture on top and bake until light 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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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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard and enriched structure; whites whip into a foam for the topping.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon liquid so the filling sets into a soft, sliceable pudding.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps stabilize the whipped egg white topping.
- Lemons
- Juice gives sharp acidity, and the grated peel adds aroma.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a richer, smoother texture in the filling.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites until stiff, then browning the topping. Egg whites trap air only when beaten to a stable foam, and sugar helps hold it. Under-whipped whites slump, while over-baking can toughen the meringue and make it weep.
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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