Name: Lemon Pudding
Ingredients: 2 lemons, grated; 2 cups sugar; 1 cup cream; 2 tablespoons butter; 5 eggs; 3 tablespoons arrowroot

Why it works: Lemon and arrowroot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 553 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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 filling

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, combine the grated lemons, sugar, cream, butter, eggs, and arrowroot, then mix until well combined.

Bake

Line a deep dish with pastry.
Pour the mixture into the lined dish.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Lemon + arrowroottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together553 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Set the custard as they cook, giving the pudding its structure.
Lemons: Provide acidity and fragrant citrus aroma that cut through the sweetness.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
Cream: Adds richness and moisture for a smooth, tender texture.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a silky mouthfeel.
Arrowroot: Thickens the liquid so the filling holds together as it bakes.