Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
An Excellent Sponge Cake 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
Slice the sponge cakes.
Place the sliced cakes in a well-buttered tart dish.
Add the candied peel on top of the cakes.
Make the custard
Whisk the eggs thoroughly.
Boil the milk and dissolve the sugar.
Stir in the boiled milk with the grated lemon rind.
When the mixture is slightly cooled, add the brandy.
Pour the mixture over the cakes.
Let the mixture sit for 1 hour.
Finish and bake
Strain the clarified butter over the top.
Sift powdered sugar thickly on top.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.
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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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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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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Orange + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,706 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Brandy + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,127 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sponge cakes
- Form the base that soaks up the custard and holds the pudding's shape.
- Eggs
- Set the custard, giving the pudding structure and a rich, tender texture.
- Milk
- Supplies the liquid that moistens the cake and forms the custard.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to the custard and to the sifted topping.
- Clarified butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the top brown in the oven.
- Brandy
- Adds a warm, aromatic flavour to the custard.
The step that matters
Letting the custard soak in. The sliced sponge needs time to absorb the custard before baking. Soaking lets the cake take up liquid evenly, so the pudding bakes moist rather than with dry pockets or pooled liquid.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, sugar, lemon, brandy, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Apricotfits about as well
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, sugar, lemon, brandy, butter. 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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