Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the mixture
Grate the rind and strain the juice of the lemon.
Mix the breadcrumbs with the lemon rind and juice, sweeten to taste, and beat well with a wooden spoon.
Beat the eggs with the milk, strain, and add to the mixture.
Bake and serve
Butter a pie dish, pour the mixture into it, and dot with small pieces of butter.
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) until nicely browned.
Sift caster sugar over the top before serving.
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Egg + buttertop 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Breadcrumbs
- Absorb the liquid and give the pudding a soft, body-filled structure.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to bind the mixture and give it a custardy texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness, helping the eggs form a tender custard.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and helps the top brown during baking.
- Lemon
- Provides acidity and aroma from the rind and juice, balancing the sweetness.
The step that matters
Bake until nicely browned. Baking in a brisk oven sets the eggs and milk into a custard while the surface browns. Underbaking leaves the centre loose, while overbaking can make it dry and curdled.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, butter, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, butter, 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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