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Dessert

Economical Lemon Sherbet

A chilled lemon sherbet made with water, sugar, lemon extract, citric acid, eggs, cream, gelatin, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Tea and lemon work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 610 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Economical Lemon Sherbet

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Beat the yolks of twelve eggs very light, and beat into them one pound of sugar until the mixture is very light.

  2. To one-third of a box of gelatin, put one pint cold water and let it dissolve.

  3. Stir in the gelatin. Stir into the above, one quart boiling cream; stir well.

  4. Put it on the stove until thick, making a rich custard.

  5. When quite cold, season with vanilla. Stir into it one and a half pint of rich cream, whipped to a froth while freezing.

Make the sherbet base

  1. Dissolve three teaspoons citric acid in one-half teacup hot water. Add one gallon fresh water, four teacups sugar, and three teaspoons lemon extract. When beginning to freeze, add whites of two eggs well beaten.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

190Calories
7 gProtein
11 gFat
17 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo. 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. 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.

  1. Tea + lemontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together610 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  5. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and lemon 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

Eggs
Yolks thicken the custard and enrich the texture; whites are beaten in to add lightness.
Sugar
Sweetens the mixture and softens the texture of the frozen dessert.
Cream
Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel that resists iciness.
Gelatin (in the method)
Binds water and gives the frozen dessert a firmer, more stable body.
Citric acid
Adds the sharp acidity that gives the sherbet its lemony tang.

The step that matters

Cooking the custard until thick. Egg yolks thicken as they heat, but overheating can scramble them into lumps. Cook gently and stir constantly until the custard just coats a spoon.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, tea, egg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Lemonthe original
  3. Strawberryfits about as well
  4. Peachfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, tea, 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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