Why it works: Lemon and sugar 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 ↓
Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare the rind from the lemon and cut it into thin strips.
In a small saucepan, combine the lemon rind, sugar, and cold water.
Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the mixture.
Cook
Place the pan over medium heat and stir until boiling.
Let it simmer slowly for 20 minutes.
Serve
Pour the sauce over the pudding, garnishing with the lemon rind.
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.
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.
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar 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
- Lemon
- Juice adds tartness and rind adds bright aroma to the sauce.
- Loaf sugar
- Dissolves in the hot water to add sweetness that balances the lemon's acidity.
The step that matters
Let it simmer slowly for 20 minutes. Simmering gently keeps the sugar from scorching and lets the lemon rind release its flavour into the liquid. A hard boil evaporates water too fast and can make the sauce bitter or overly thick.
“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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