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 ↓
Or Ange Filling
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Add 1 lemon and 1 teaspoonful flour.
Add 2 oranges and 1 teacupful water.
Add 1 teacupful sugar.
Grate rinds and strain juice.
Make the filling
Moisten cornflour and boil rest of water.
Stir in cornflour, rind and juice.
Boil three minutes.
Leave till cold.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
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
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| 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.
-
Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Cornflour (in the method)
- Thickens the juice and water into a set, spreadable filling as it cooks.
- Oranges
- Provide the main flavour, juice and aromatic rind for the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps give it body as it boils.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the orange.
The step that matters
Moisten cornflour before adding it. Cornflour clumps if added to hot liquid dry. Mixing it smooth with a little cold water first lets it disperse evenly, so the filling thickens without lumps.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, lemon):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits about as well
- Orangethe original
- Limefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, lemon. 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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