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 ↓
Apricot Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Use one quart apricots, five oranges, two lemons, whites of four eggs, one quart and one cup sugar, one quart water, and one quart cream.
Press fruit through a sieve.
Boil sugar and water to a syrup and cool.
Make the ice cream
Mix the fruit and syrup and add the egg whites.
After this starts to freeze, add the cream and freeze until almost solid.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| 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.
-
Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Orange + eggtop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Apricots (in the method)
- Provide the main fruit flavour and body once pressed through a sieve.
- Egg whites
- Whipped air and protein help give the frozen mixture a light structure.
- Cream (in the method)
- Adds fat, which makes the frozen ice cream richer and smoother.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Adds sweetness and softens the frozen texture by lowering the freezing point.
- Lemons
- Add acidity that brightens the fruit flavour.
The step that matters
Add the cream after the mixture starts to freeze. Adding cream to a partly frozen base spreads the fat evenly and helps keep ice crystals small, so the texture stays smooth rather than icy.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, egg):
- Orangethe original
- Limefits about as well
- Raspberryfits less well
- Blueberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, egg. 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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