Why it works: Apple and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,551 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
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 apples
Pare and core the apples.
Place the apples in a saucepan and cover with water.
Stew the apples until soft, then beat them smooth.
Make the filling
Mix in the sugar, butter, lemon juice, lemon peel, and egg yolks.
Bake and serve
Line a dish with puff pastry and pour in the apple mixture.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 45 minutes.
Before serving, grate loaf sugar over the top until it looks white.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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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 + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Break down into a soft, smooth base that forms the body of the pudding.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the filling and help it set into a custard-like texture when baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture to the filling.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the filling and, grated on top, gives a white, sugary finish.
- Lemon juice and peel
- Add acidity and bright aroma that balance the sweetness of the apples and sugar.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a crisp, flaky base that holds the filling while it bakes.
The step that matters
Stew the apples until soft, then beat them smooth. If the apples are not cooked fully soft, the filling stays lumpy and watery. Thorough cooking breaks down the fibres so the purée is smooth and can set evenly with the egg yolks.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, lemon, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, lemon, egg. 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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