Why it works: Lemon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Baked Apple Pudding
Ingredients
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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Stir in the egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon peel, and grated apples.
Pour the mixture into a deep pudding dish.
Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture.
Bake and serve
Grate a little nutmeg over the top.
Bake until set and golden.
Serve cold with cream.
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 + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,790 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks give the pudding lightness, while yolks help it set when baked.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Creamed with butter, it sweetens the pudding and helps give it a tender texture.
- Pippin apples
- Grated apples add moisture and apple flavor throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Folding in the whipped egg whites. Whites whipped to stiff peaks trap air that lifts the pudding. Folding gently keeps that air in; stirring hard deflates the foam and leaves a dense, flat result.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, sugar, lemon, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, sugar, lemon, nutmeg. 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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