Vermicelli Pudding with Apples or Without

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.

1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

2. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together19,053 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

3. Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together41,227 recipes

   Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

4. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together98,233 recipes

   Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

5. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together53,532 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and lemon 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

Vermicelli

Forms the body of the pudding, absorbing milk as it cooks to set into a soft, tender mass.

Milk

Cooks the pasta and provides the liquid that sets into a creamy custard during baking.

Fresh butter

Adds richness and fat, giving the pudding a smooth texture and helping it brown.

Powdered sugar

Sweetens the pudding and dissolves easily into the warm mixture.

The step that matters

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, sugar):

1. Vanillafits better
2. Figfits better
3. Peachfits better
4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.