Why it works: Lemon and sugar 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 ↓
Effervescing Lemonade
Ingredients
Directions
Squeeze the juice from one lemon and strain it.
Add the strained juice to one-half pint of cold water.
Sweeten the mixture with one dessert-spoonful of pounded sugar.
Add one-half small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda and stir well.
Drink while the mixture is effervescing.
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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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Lemon
- Provides the acidity that reacts with the soda to release bubbles and gives the drink its tart flavour.
- Carbonate of soda
- Reacts with the lemon's acid to release carbon dioxide, which makes the drink fizz.
- Pounded sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the lemon juice.
The step that matters
Add the carbonate of soda and drink right away. The fizz comes from carbon dioxide released when the soda meets the acid, and that gas escapes quickly from a liquid. Adding the soda and drinking promptly keeps most of the effervescence in the glass.
“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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