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 Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine lemon juice, lemon skins, boiling water, and sugar in a large container.
Let the mixture stand for 24 hours.
If the sugar is not fully dissolved, gently heat the mixture until it melts.
Filter the syrup through a jelly bag.
Bottle and store
Bottle the syrup and seal tightly with a cork.
Store in a cool place for up to 3 months.
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.
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
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and body, and helps preserve the syrup.
- Fresh lemon juice
- Supplies the sharp acidity and bright lemon flavor of the syrup.
- Lemon skins
- Release aromatic oils that add lemon fragrance to the syrup.
The step that matters
Dissolving the sugar fully. Undissolved sugar leaves grainy crystals and can throw off the syrup's texture and sweetness. Gentle heat helps sugar dissolve, but strong boiling can alter the flavor of the lemon, so keep the heat gentle.
“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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