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Sauce

Lemon Raisin Sauce

A sweet sauce of molasses, raisins, and lemon, thickened with corn starch and finished with butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Evora Bucknum Perkins · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,577 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Lemon Raisin Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Cook the raisins for 20 minutes; drain and reserve the water.

  2. Mix the molasses, reserved water, and raisins and heat to boiling.

  3. Stir in corn starch blended with a little milk; boil until thickened.

  4. Add butter, lemon juice, and optionally grated lemon rind; serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

132Calories
1 gProtein
0 gFat
35 gCarbs

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
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Evora Bucknum Perkins. 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.

  1. Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,577 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,742 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Molasses + lemontop 36% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Provides sweetness and a deep, rich flavor to the sauce.
Raisins
Add sweetness, chewy texture, and body to the sauce.
Corn starch (in the method)
Thickens the sauce when heated with liquid.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sweet molasses flavor.
Butter (in the method)
Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Stir in corn starch blended with a little milk; boil until thickened.. Cornstarch must be blended smooth in cold liquid before adding, then brought to a boil so its starch granules swell and thicken the sauce. Adding it dry or undercooking it leaves lumps or a thin, starchy sauce.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, raisin):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Currantfits better
  3. Orangefits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, raisin. 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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