Why it works: Lemon and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Lemon Creams of Custards
Ingredients
Directions
Make the lemonade
Dissolve the sugar in the boiling water, rubbing off the lemon rind with part of the sugar, then add the strained juice.
Let the mixture stand covered for about ½ hour to extract the rind flavor.
Make the custard
Strain the lemonade into a saucepan, add the beaten egg yolks, and stir over the fire until the mixture thickens, but do not allow it to boil.
Serve
Serve the custard in custard glasses or on a glass dish.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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 + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the lemon liquid into a smooth custard as they gently set with heat.
- Lemon
- Its juice and rind give the custard its sharp, acidic and aromatic flavor.
The step that matters
Thickening the custard without boiling. Egg yolks set when heated, but if the mixture boils they can curdle and turn grainy. Stirring over gentle heat until it thickens keeps the custard smooth.
“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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