Why it works: Sugar and lemon 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
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.
Make the lemon base
Grate the rind of the lemons and squeeze the juice into a bowl.
Add the sugar to the lemon juice and rind.
Beat the egg yolks until light and mix them with the lemon mixture.
In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch with a little cold water.
Pour boiling water over the cornstarch until it is clear and thick.
Combine the cornstarch mixture with the lemon mixture.
Bake
Pour the combined mixture into a baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 45 minutes.
Make the meringue
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Gradually add ½ cup sugar.
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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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard and enrich it, while whites whipped to stiff peaks give the topping lift.
- Cornstarch
- Gelatinizes in boiling water to thicken the lemon mixture into a set, spoonable pudding.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps stabilize the whipped egg whites.
- Lemon juice and rind
- Provides the sharp acidity and fragrant lemon aroma that flavor the pudding.
The step that matters
Pour boiling water over the cornstarch until it is clear and thick. Cornstarch only thickens fully once heated to a boil in liquid; adding it too cool leaves a starchy, thin base. Stir it well so the starch dissolves evenly without lumps.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, 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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