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 and place them in a glass dish.
Spread the strawberry jam over the sponge cakes.
Make the custard
Grate the lemon rind and squeeze out the juice.
In an enamelled saucepan, combine the lemon juice, water, and sugar; bring to a boil.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks, then pour the boiling mixture over them, stirring constantly.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over low heat until it thickens, but do not let it boil.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold them into the custard.
Once cool, pour the custard over the sponge cakes.
Top and serve
Sprinkle the grated cocoa nut on top.
In a bowl, mix a tablespoon of sugar with the cream and beat until light and frothy.
Spread the whipped cream over the pudding and top with sprinkles.
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.
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, 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).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cocoa + lemontop 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, whipped and folded in, give it a light, airy texture.
- Sponge cakes
- Form the soft base that soaks up the custard and holds the layers together.
- Cream
- Whipped into a light, frothy topping that adds richness and a soft finish.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and the whipped cream, and helps balance the lemon's acidity.
- Lemon
- Adds bright acidity and aroma to the custard, cutting through its sweetness.
The step that matters
Thickening the custard over low heat. Egg yolks set at gentle temperatures; if the custard boils, the eggs can scramble and curdle, leaving a grainy texture instead of a smooth, thick custard.
Swap the strawberry jam
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, cocoa, lemon, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Strawberry jamthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, cocoa, lemon, 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.
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