Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Fruit Cup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Peel the yellow rind very thinly from twelve lemons.
Squeeze the juice over the rind in an earthen bowl.
Let the mixture stand overnight if possible.
Peel and slice thinly a very ripe pineapple.
Let the pineapple lay overnight in half a pound of powdered sugar.
Crush one quart of berries.
Let the berries lay overnight in half a pound of powdered sugar.
If the ingredients cannot be prepared the day before they are used, do them very early in the morning, because the juices of the fruit need to be incorporated with the sugar at least twelve hours before the beverage is used.
Combine and strain
After all the ingredients have been properly prepared, strain off the juice, carefully pressing all of it out of the fruit.
Mix the juice with two pounds of powdered sugar and three quarts of ice water, and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.
Strain the mixture again through a muslin or bottling cloth sieve.
Chill and serve
Put the strained beverage on the ice or in a very cool place until it is wanted for use.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| 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.
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 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
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the beverage and draws juice out of the fruit as it macerates.
- Lemons
- Supply acidity and aromatic oils from the rind for a bright flavor.
- Berries
- Contribute fruity flavor and juice that is pressed out and blended into the drink.
- Pineapple (in the method)
- Adds tropical sweetness and juice that softens once macerated in sugar.
The step that matters
Macerating the fruit overnight in sugar. Sugar draws juice out of the fruit and dissolves into it over time. Rushing this step leaves the fruit less juicy and the drink less fully flavored, so the sugar needs at least twelve hours to work.
“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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