Why it works: Milk and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,053 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Caramel
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the caramel
Melt the sugar in a pan over low heat until it turns light brown, about 4 minutes on moderate heat or 2 minutes on high heat.
Line a 1‑liter pudding mold with the caramel, spreading it evenly.
Place the mold in a cool place to harden.
Make the custard
In a bowl, combine the milk, eggs, powdered sugar, and lemon essence. Beat well for 5 minutes.
Strain the mixture into another bowl and fill the mold with it.
Bake and serve
Place the mold in a tin pan filled with water halfway up the mold and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 45 minutes.
Once golden, remove and cool for at least 2 hours.
Turn out onto a dessert dish and serve with its own juice.
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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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 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).
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
- Sugar
- Melts to form the caramel that coats the mold and sweetens the dessert.
- Eggs
- Set the custard as they cook, giving it a firm, sliceable structure.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing moisture and a soft texture.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves easily into the custard, adding sweetness and smoothness.
The step that matters
Melting the sugar to caramel. Sugar darkens quickly once it starts to color, and past light brown it turns bitter. Watching the color closely and removing it at the right moment gives a sweet, pleasantly bitter caramel rather than a burnt one.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, egg. 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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