Why it works: Sugar and lemon 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 Ice
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the syrup
Blend the cornstarch and sugar together.
Moisten slightly with cold water and add to the quart of boiling water.
Boil for 15 minutes.
Finish and freeze
Strain and cool the mixture.
Add the lemon juice and freeze.
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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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon 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
- Adds sweetness and softens the sharpness of the lemon juice.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the syrup and helps give the frozen ice a smoother texture.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sharp acidity and main lemon flavor.
The step that matters
Add the cold-water cornstarch mixture to the boiling water. Cornstarch clumps when it hits hot liquid without being dispersed first. Mixing it with sugar and a little cold water spreads the starch granules so they thicken evenly once the mixture boils.
“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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