Why it works: Lemon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make a rich pastry.
Line an earthenware dish with the pastry.
Rub sugar on the rinds of the lemons to absorb the oil.
Squeeze and strain the juice from the lemons.
Melt the butter over gentle heat.
Make the filling
Beat the yolks of the eggs with the sugar until creamy.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff.
Gently fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture.
Combine the lemon juice with the mixture.
Pour the combined mixture into the lined dish.
Bake and serve
Bake in the moderate oven until done.
Serve hot.
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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Lemon + buttertop 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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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Lemon and sugar 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 filling and whites, whisked and folded in, lighten its texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a smooth, tender texture.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the filling and, beaten with the yolks, helps create a creamy base.
- Lemons
- Juice provides sharp acidity and the rinds, rubbed with sugar, add aroma.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a crisp, flaky case that holds the filling in the dish.
The step that matters
Folding the egg whites. Whites whisked to stiff peaks trap air that gives lightness. Folding gently keeps that air in; stirring hard deflates the foam and leaves a dense pudding.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar. 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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