Why it works: Lemon and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,927 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Juice the lemons and combine with corn starch, sugar, egg yolks, and hot water in a saucepan.
Boil the mixture while stirring until it thickens.
Finish and serve
Whip the egg whites to a froth and fold them into the custard, or use corn starch to stiffen the egg whites before adding.
Serve warm or chilled.
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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Lemon + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 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
- Corn starch
- Thickens the custard as it boils, giving it a smooth, sliceable body.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help it set into a creamy texture when heated.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in, they add lightness and a airy, foamy texture.
- Lemons
- Provide the acidity and bright lemon flavour that defines the custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the sharpness of the lemon juice.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture while stirring until it thickens. Corn starch only thickens fully when the mixture reaches a boil, and constant stirring prevents the egg yolks from scrambling or lumping on the bottom of the pan.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, 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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