Why it works: Wine and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,427 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
Lemon Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Beat the yolks of the eggs until they are white.
Add boiling water, grated lemon rind, and sweeten with sugar to taste.
Stir this mixture over heat until it thickens.
Add the wine and brandy, then bring to a boil.
Pour into glasses and let cool.
Fold in the egg whites and finish
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth, then combine with the yolks.
Gradually mix in the other ingredients while beating.
Place the mixture in a pot of boiling water and stir until thick.
Strain into a deep dish and cool in the refrigerator before serving.
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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Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Lemon + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,157 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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 as they set with gentle heat, giving it body and richness.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to a stiff froth, they add lightness and airy structure to the custard.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sharp acidity that defines the flavour of the custard.
- Lemon rind
- Adds concentrated lemon aroma from the aromatic oils in the peel.
- Rich wine
- Adds liquid, flavour and some acidity to the custard base.
- Brandy
- Adds aromatic depth and warmth to the flavour.
The step that matters
Stir the yolk mixture over heat until it thickens. Egg yolk proteins thicken the custard as they gently set, but if the heat is too high or stirring stops, they overcook and curdle into a grainy texture. Low, steady heat and constant stirring keep it smooth.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, wine, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Applefits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, wine, brandy. 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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