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 ↓
Baked Apple Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the apples
Peel and quarter the apples.
Boil the apples with the lemon rind in just enough water to cover them until tender.
Beat the apples until smooth in a mortar.
Assemble and bake
Mix in the crumb of the roll, melted butter, egg yolks, egg whites, lemon juice, and sugar.
Pour the mixture into a dish lined with pastry.
Cover with a pastry crust and bake in a 300°F (150°C) oven until 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 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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Lemon + buttertop 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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Butter + sugartop 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
- Provide the bulk and flavor of the pudding, softened and puréed into a smooth base.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help it set into a tender, sliceable texture when baked.
- Egg whites
- Add lift and structure, helping the pudding set lighter in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, giving the pudding a softer, more tender crumb.
- Roll
- Crumbs bind the apple purée and absorb moisture so the pudding holds together.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs thicken as they heat, so underbaking leaves the pudding runny while overbaking at a high heat can make it dry or curdled. Check that the center is just set.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, butter, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, butter, 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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