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 ↓
Jelly Lemonade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Steep the thinly pared rind of the oranges and lemons in hot water for 4 hours.
Boil the loaf sugar in 3 pints of water, skimming until clear.
Combine and strain
Combine the two mixtures and add the juice of the oranges and lemons. Mix well and strain through a jelly bag until clear.
Store and serve
Keep cool until ready to serve.
For storage, pour into clean glass bottles and cork tightly.
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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon and sugar 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
- Lemons
- Provide the main sharp acidity and the citrus aroma from their rind and juice.
- Oranges
- Add juice and fragrant citrus oils from the rind, balancing the sharpness of the lemons.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the drink and balances the acidity of the citrus juice.
The step that matters
Skimming the sugar syrup until clear. Foam rises as the sugar syrup boils and, if left in, it clouds the finished drink. Skimming removes these impurities so the syrup stays clear.
“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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