Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the custard
In a double boiler, combine cornstarch, sugar, water, and the juice of the lemon.
Cook until thickened, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat and stir in the egg yolks.
Finish and bake
Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold into the mixture.
Transfer to a baking dish and bake at 300°F (150°C) until the meringue is cooked.
Chill
Cool in the refrigerator before serving.
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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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).
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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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon mixture as it cooks into a smooth custard.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich and thicken the custard, adding richness and body.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that forms the light meringue topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and balances the lemon's acidity.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the bright, tart lemon flavor of the pudding.
The step that matters
Cook until thickened, stirring frequently. Cornstarch must be stirred as it heats so it gelatinizes evenly; otherwise it can clump or stay thin. Egg yolks added later should be stirred in off the heat so they do not scramble.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, 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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