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 ↓
Orange Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Juice 6 oranges and juice and grate the rind of 1 lemon.
Add enough water to the fruit juice to make 1-1/2 pints of liquid.
Heat the liquid, adding 4 to 6 oz. of sugar.
Make the custard
Mix 1 dessertspoonful of cornflour with a spoonful of cold water to make a smooth slurry.
Thicken the fruit juice with the cornflour slurry, letting it boil up for a minute.
Set aside and let it cool a little.
Beat 7 eggs well.
When the liquid has cooled, mix the eggs carefully into it.
Return the mixture over a gentle fire, stirring continually until the cream thickens, but do not let it boil.
Serve
When cold, serve in custard glasses or in a glass dish poured over macaroons.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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).
-
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Orange + eggtop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,696 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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
- Set the custard as they thicken when gently heated, giving it body.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the juice into a smooth body before the eggs are added.
- Oranges
- Provide the main juice and fresh citrus flavour of the custard.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Sweetens the tart citrus juice.
The step that matters
Returning the mixture to the heat. Egg proteins thicken the custard gently, but if it boils they can curdle and turn grainy, so it must be stirred over gentle heat and kept below boiling.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, egg):
- Orangethe original
- Limefits about as well
- Raspberryfits less well
- Blueberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, 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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