Why it works: Lemon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Boil the water in a saucepan.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar.
Stir in the lemon rind and juice, and the cornstarch mixed with a little cold water.
Slowly add the boiling water while beating well until slightly thickened.
Cook for one minute, avoiding curdling the eggs.
Finish and chill
Remove from heat, stir in the stiffly beaten egg whites, and chill in the refrigerator.
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 + 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).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the liquid into a smooth, sliceable pudding as it heats.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help it set with body and richness.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into the warm custard to lighten its texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and bright aroma from the juice and rind.
The step that matters
Cook for one minute, avoiding curdling the eggs. Egg yolks can scramble if the custard gets too hot or is heated too fast. Keep the heat gentle and keep stirring so the yolks thicken the mixture smoothly instead of curdling.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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