Why it works: Orange and apple match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,230 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orange Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
In a bowl, combine the grated orange rind, butter, and sugar; beat until well mixed.
Add the beaten eggs and mix thoroughly.
Stir in the scraped apple.
Assemble and bake
Line a dish with pastry, pour in the orange mixture, and place cross bars of pastry on top.
Bake for 30 minutes.
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.
-
Orange + appletop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Butter + appletop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + appletop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and apple barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
- Bind the mixture and set into a custard-like texture as they cook.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender, moist crumb to the filling.
- Lump sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it cream smoothly with the butter.
- Seville orange rind
- Provides the fragrant citrus aroma and flavour of the pudding.
- Apple
- Adds moisture and a soft fruity body to the filling.
The step that matters
Beating the butter and sugar until well mixed. Creaming butter with sugar traps air in the fat, which helps the filling stay light and even. Under-beaten butter and sugar leave a dense, uneven texture after baking.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, apple):
- Vanillafits better
- Pearfits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, apple. 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.
More orange pudding recipes
You might also like
The 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.
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes