Why it works: Milk and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the custard base
Pour the milk into a saucepan and bring the milk to a boil.
Mix the corn-starch with a little cold milk or water, then stir the corn-starch mixture into the milk.
Boil the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent lumping.
Remove the mixture from heat and let it cool slightly.
Finish and bake
Whip the sugar and lemon juice into the beaten egg yolks, then stir this mixture into the milk mixture.
Fold in the beaten egg whites until just combined.
Pour the custard into a dish and set the dish inside a shallow pan of boiling water.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 20 to 30 minutes, or until barely set.
Serve warm or 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.
-
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 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 custard and whites, folded in, lighten its texture.
- Corn-starch
- Starch thickens the milk as it boils, giving the pudding body.
- Sweet milk
- Forms the liquid base of the pudding and provides creaminess.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright lemon flavor to the custard.
The step that matters
Stirring the boiling milk and starch. Cornstarch clumps if it is not stirred constantly while boiling. Stirring keeps it dispersed so the base thickens smoothly before the eggs are added.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, corn):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, corn. 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 lemon pudding recipes
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Corn Cake90 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.