Name: Orange Water Ice
Ingredients: 2 pints orange juice; juice of 2 lemons; 1 teaspoon orange flower water; 2 cups simple syrup; 6 pints water; 1 egg white

Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Orange Water Ice

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

In a large bowl, combine the orange juice, lemon juice, orange flower water, simple syrup, and water. Mix well until combined.
Add the egg white and mix until frothy.

Freeze and serve

Pour the mixture into a freezer-safe container and freeze until hard.
Serve in chilled cups with small spoons.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,634 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together44,316 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Lemon + syruptop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,235 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Orange + syruptop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,179 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Orange + eggtop 31% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together10,696 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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

Orange juice: Provides the main citrus flavor and sweetness-balancing acidity for the ice.
Lemon juice: Adds sharp acidity that brightens the orange flavor and balances the sugar.
Simple syrup: Sugar lowers the freezing point, keeping the ice softer and less rock-hard.
Egg white: Whipped into the mixture to add foam, creating a lighter, airier texture when frozen.