Why it works: Egg and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Cream
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, combine 2 cups of hot water with the juice and grated rind of the lemons.
Mix in the beaten yolks of 3 eggs and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch or flour mixed with a little water.
Sweeten the mixture to taste.
When the mixture is about to boil, slowly stir in the 3 beaten egg whites.
Let it boil for a moment while stirring continuously.
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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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + flourtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken and enrich the mixture, giving it a smooth, custard-like body.
- Cornstarch or flour
- Thickens the liquid as it heats, giving the cream structure and body.
- Lemon juice and rind
- Provides the sharp, bright acidity and fragrant lemon aroma.
- Egg whites
- Add lightness and help set the cream as they are heated in the mixture.
The step that matters
Stirring in the egg whites near boiling. Adding the egg whites slowly while stirring keeps them from clumping or scrambling. Constant stirring during the boil distributes heat evenly so the starch thickens smoothly without scorching on the bottom of the pot.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Blueberryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour. 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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