Why it works: Lemon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Lemon Sauce
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 sauce
Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a bowl.
Pour the mixture into the boiling water while stirring continuously.
Boil for 10 minutes.
Finish and serve
Add the lemon juice, grated rind, and butter.
Serve immediately.
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 + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 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
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells and sets when heated in liquid.
- Lemon juice
- Adds bright acidity that gives the sauce its tang.
- Lemon rind
- Adds fragrant lemon oils that give aroma without extra sourness.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother, richer mouthfeel and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Pouring the sugar and cornstarch mixture into the boiling water while stirring continuously. Cornstarch clumps when it hits hot liquid unless it is dispersed by constant stirring. Stirring keeps the starch evenly distributed so it thickens the sauce smoothly as it boils.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Peachfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter. 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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