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 Creams
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard
Combine water, lemon rind, lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch (mixed with a little water) in a double boiler.
Cook until thickened like boiled custard.
Once cooled, pour into glass or china cups, filling them about two-thirds full.
Top and serve
Beat the egg whites with 1 tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form.
Pile the beaten egg whites over the creams.
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 + 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and enrich its flavor and color as they set.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon custard so it sets smoothly when cooked and cooled.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they form a light, airy topping over the creams.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps stabilize the whipped egg whites.
The step that matters
Cook the custard until thickened. Cornstarch thickens only when heated enough to swell its starch granules, and egg yolks need gentle heat to thicken without curdling. A double boiler keeps the heat moderate, so the custard sets smooth rather than lumpy or scrambled.
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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