Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Jenny Lind Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Slice the sponge cakes.
Place the sliced cakes in a glass dish.
Spread the strawberry jam over the cakes.
Make the custard
Grate the lemon rind.
Squeeze out the lemon juice.
Combine the lemon juice with the water and sugar in an enamelled saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Beat the yolks of the eggs in a bowl.
Pour the boiling mixture over the yolks while stirring continuously.
Return the mixture to the saucepan.
Stir over low heat until it thickens, ensuring it does not boil.
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Gently fold the beaten whites into the custard.
Top and serve
Once cool, pour the custard over the sponge cakes.
Sprinkle the grated cocoa nut on top.
In a bowl, mix a dessert spoonful of sugar with the cream.
Beat the mixture until light and frothy.
Spread the whipped cream over the pudding.
Top with small sweets or pink sugar.
Serve cold.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Lemon + cocoatop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together198 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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 whites, folded in, lighten its texture.
- Cream
- Whipped, it forms a light, airy topping that adds richness.
- Sponge cakes
- Soaked base layer that gives the pudding its body and absorbs the custard.
- Strawberry jam
- Adds fruity sweetness and flavour between the cake and custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and, with the cream, the topping.
The step that matters
Stir the custard over low heat without boiling. Egg yolks thicken as they warm, but if the custard boils they can scramble and curdle, leaving a grainy texture instead of a smooth custard.
Swap the strawberry jam
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, egg, cocoa, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Strawberry jamthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, egg, cocoa, cream. 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.
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Strawberry Ice Cream122 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.