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 ↓
Lenox Punch
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Make a syrup by boiling sugar and water fifteen minutes.
Add jelly, and, as soon as dissolved, add a piece of ice to cool mixture.
Then add fruit juices, ale, and brandy.
Finish and serve
Color red and freeze to a mush.
Serve in glasses, and insert in each glass a small sprig of holly with berries.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 7 ingredients. The other 3 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Currant | not in our table | 0 |
| Brandy | 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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Orange + gingertop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,833 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Lemon + gingertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Currant + orangetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,034 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sweetens the punch and, dissolved in boiling water, forms the syrup base.
- Currant jelly
- Adds fruity flavor and color, and dissolves into the syrup.
- Orange juice
- Contributes fruit flavor and aroma with a mild acidity.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that balances the sweetness of the syrup.
- Ginger ale
- Adds sparkle and spiced flavor, and extra sweetness.
- Brandy
- Adds warmth and aroma, and carries the fruit flavors.
The step that matters
Cool the mixture before adding the ginger ale. Ginger ale is carbonated, and adding it to a hot liquid makes it foam and lose fizz quickly. Chilling the base with ice first keeps the punch lively and well balanced.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, orange, lemon, ginger, brandy):
- Limefits better
- Blackberryfits better
- Apricotfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, orange, lemon, ginger, brandy. 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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