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Dessert

Fayetteville Citron Pudding

A custard-like pudding made with egg yolks, sugar, butter, flour, wine, and sliced citron, baked in puff pastry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Fayetteville Citron Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the custard

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Beat the egg yolks and then mix in the sugar until well combined.

  3. Add the butter and flour, mixing until smooth.

  4. Stir in the wine and sliced citron gently.

  5. Fold in the beaten egg whites until just combined.

Bake and serve

  1. Line a baking dish with puff pastry and pour the mixture in.

  2. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until set and golden.

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.

  1. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  3. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  4. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Egg yolks
Thicken the custard and enrich its texture as they set in the oven.
Egg whites
Beaten in last, they add lightness and help the pudding rise and set airy.
Sugar
Sweetens the pudding and softens the set texture of the custard.
Butter
Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture and flavor.
Flour
Helps stabilize the custard so it holds its shape when baked.
Citron
Adds a fragrant, tangy citrus flavor and some chew to the pudding.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Overmixing deflates the beaten whites, losing the air that lightens the pudding. Fold gently, only until just combined, so the custard stays airy and rises evenly.

“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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