Why it works: Lemon and orange 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 ↓
Fruit Punch
one hundred personsIngredients
Directions
Combine three dozen lemons, two dozen oranges, one large bottle non-alcoholic maraschino cherries, two cans diced Hawaiian pineapple, and four pounds granulated sugar made into a syrup; cool.
While the syrup is still warm, add grated rinds of one dozen oranges and one dozen lemons.
Mint.
Make twelve hours before using.
Add water to taste.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cherry | 1 cup (138g) | 87 |
| Pineapple | 1 cup chunks (165g) | 82 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Syrup | not in our table | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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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Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Ginger + orangetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,833 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Orange + pineappletop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,664 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Granulated sugar
- Dissolves into a syrup that sweetens the punch and gives it body.
- Lemons
- Provide sourness that balances the sweetness and adds bright citrus aroma.
- Oranges
- Add sweetness, juice and citrus aroma to the punch base.
- Maraschino cherries
- Add sweetness and flavour, and colour to the punch.
- Pineapple
- Adds sweetness, juice and tropical flavour to the punch.
The step that matters
Add the rinds while the syrup is warm. Citrus rind holds aromatic oils in its peel. Warm syrup dissolves sugar and helps draw these oils into the liquid, so the flavour is stronger. Adding the rind to cold syrup gives a weaker aroma.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, syrup, ginger, lemon, orange):
- Limefits better
- Vanillafits better
- Mangofits about as well
- Pineapplethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, syrup, ginger, lemon, orange. 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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