Why it works: Gelatin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,778 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jelly
Mix water or fruit juices with dissolved gelatin, lemon rind, lemon juice, and sugar.
Add the whites and shells of the eggs and mix well.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and allow it to coagulate.
When the scum turns grey, strain the mixture through a flannel bag three times.
Use
Use the clarified jelly for various preparations.
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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Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,778 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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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).
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Gelatin + lemontop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,215 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-pinene (pine, resin).
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
- Gelatin
- Sets the liquid into a firm jelly as it cools.
- Egg whites and shells
- Collect impurities as they coagulate, clarifying the jelly to a clear finish.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the jelly its body.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the jelly.
The step that matters
Simmering to coagulate the egg whites. The mixture should simmer gently rather than boil hard. Egg whites and shells rise and trap cloudy particles as they coagulate, forming a scum that clears the liquid. Vigorous boiling can break up this scum and cloud the jelly, so the straining through flannel must follow a properly formed scum.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gelatin, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against gelatin, 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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