Why it works: Butter and egg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 118,511 recipes mention both. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Melt the butter gently in a saucepan.
Beat in the egg yolks and egg whites until well combined.
Mix in the sugar and grated lemon rind.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a prepared dish.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until nicely set.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Butter + eggtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together118,511 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
-
Butter + lemontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,197 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Egg + lemontop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together43,327 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Sugar + lemontop 10% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together53,530 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + sugartop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together98,096 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and lemon share little aroma chemistry, yet 53,530 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the pudding a tender, rich texture.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and colour, and set to give the pudding its body.
- Egg whites
- Set on heating to give the pudding structure and a lighter crumb.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly in the oven.
- Lemon rind
- Adds fragrant citrus aroma that balances the richness of the butter and eggs.
The step that matters
Bake until just set. Egg proteins set as they heat. Pulling the pudding out once the centre is just firm keeps it smooth and tender, while overbaking makes it dry, rubbery, or curdled.
Flavor stand-ins for the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar):
- Vanillabetter flavor fit
- Lemonthe original
- Figabout as good a flavor fit
- Peachabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.