Name: 1. Lemonade and Fruit Drinks.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup sugar to a quart; a quart of water; a quart of fruit punch; one half lemon to a glass; one third to 1/2 cup sugar to a quart; eight people; lemon juice

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 ↓

1. Lemonade and Fruit Drinks.

serves eight people

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Gather utensils: silver knife, glass lemon squeezer, grater, strainer, saucepan; avoid tin and iron utensils.
Gather materials: lemon or other fruits, sugar water.
Determine proportions: use half a lemon per glass or 2–3 per quart of water; add other fruits as desired; add 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar per quart; test by taste.

Make the syrup and juice

Dissolve sugar in part of water and bring to a boil.
When cool, add lemon juice and remaining water, ice, and serve; add grated rind to boiling water if desired.
Alternatively, use lump sugar and rub lemon peel on each lump before dissolving.
For other fruits, mash pulpy fruit and berries, add water, and strain.
Optionally add cherries, strawberries, or pulp before serving; cut large berries.
Add carbonated water just before serving for brightness.

Serve

Serve: a quart of fruit punch serves eight people.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

61Calories

0 gProtein

0 gFat

16 gCarbs

Counts 2 of 4 ingredients. The other 2 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
Fruit	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.

By Helen Kinne and Anna M. Cooley. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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

Sugar: Provides sweetness and balances the sharpness of the lemon juice.
Lemon juice: Supplies the sour, acidic bright flavour that defines the drink.
Fruit punch: Adds fruit flavour, colour and extra sweetness to the base.

“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.