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 Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the lemon cream
In a saucepan, combine 1 pint of water, the juice of 2-3 lemons, and the peel of 2 lemons.
Sweeten the mixture to taste and heat over medium heat.
Once warm, gradually stir in the beaten egg whites.
When the mixture thickens slightly, add the beaten egg yolks while stirring continuously.
Continue stirring until the cream thickens enough to prevent curdling.
Serve
Pour the lemon cream into glasses and serve.
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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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 whites
- Add structure and lightness, helping the cream set as it heats.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream and add richness as they cook gently with the mixture.
- Lemon juice
- Provides acidity that gives the cream its bright, tart flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness to balance the sharpness of the lemon.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolks while stirring. Egg proteins begin to set around moderate heat, so if the yolks are added too fast or the mixture is not stirred constantly, they can scramble and curdle instead of thickening smoothly.
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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