Why it works: Arrowroot and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 553 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
150 Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the lemon base
Mix the arrowroot with a little cold water.
Add the yolks of the eggs, half the sugar, the strained juice of the lemon, and the grated lemon rind.
Stir in 4 cups of boiling water.
Boil for five minutes.
Stir in the butter. Mix well.
Assemble and bake
Butter a pie dish.
Pour the mixture in.
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth with a small pinch of salt. Gently stir in the remaining sugar.
Spoon the egg white mixture in rocky heaps on top of the pudding. Sift icing sugar over it.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 15 to 20 minutes 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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Arrowroot + lemontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together553 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + eggtop 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).
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 lemon base, and whipped whites give the topping its light, airy structure.
- Arrowroot
- Starch that thickens the boiling liquid into a smooth, glossy custard-like filling.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the filling and, in the meringue, helps the whites stay stable and browns the topping.
- Lemon
- Juice and rind add sharp acidity and bright lemon aroma to the filling.
- Butter
- Stirred into the hot filling to add richness and a smooth, rounded flavour.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to a stiff froth. Whites must be whipped until they hold firm peaks, and the sugar must be folded in gently. Under-whipped or over-stirred whites will deflate and weep, leaving a flat topping.
Swap the arrowroot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, lemon):
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Arrowrootthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, lemon. 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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