Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Lemon Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Soak the juice and peel of the lemons together.
Rub the peel with sugar.
In a bowl, combine the pounded sugar, grated bread crumbs, and the egg yolks.
Melt the butter and mix it into the egg mixture.
Assemble and bake
Line a dish with puff pastry.
Pour in the lemon mixture.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 45 minutes.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Egg + buttertop 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
- Eggs
- Yolks bind the filling and add richness, and set as the pudding bakes.
- Grated bread crumbs
- Add body and soak up liquid, giving the pudding a soft, cakey texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender, smooth texture.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon juice and peel
- Provide tart acidity and fragrant oils that flavour the pudding.
The step that matters
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 45 minutes. Eggs set as they heat, so the pudding can curdle or turn rubbery if overbaked. Watch for a set centre with a lightly browned top.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, bread, egg, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Datesfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, bread, egg, butter. 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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