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 Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the lemon base
Beat the yolks of the eggs in a bowl.
Add the lemon juice, grated rind, sugar, and cold water to the yolks.
Cook the mixture on the stove over low heat, stirring constantly until it thickens.
Fold and serve
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the lemon mixture.
Serve in sherbet glasses.
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).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the cream as they cook, and whipped whites add lightness.
- Lemon juice and rind
- Juice adds tartness and rind adds fragrant lemon aroma.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the lemon's sharpness and helps the whites hold their shape.
The step that matters
Cooking the yolk mixture over low heat. Egg yolks scramble if they get too hot. Low heat and constant stirring let them thicken smoothly into a custard instead of curdling.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. 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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