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 Drops
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Squeeze and strain the juice of the lemons.
Mix the lemon juice with powdered sugar until thick.
Transfer the mixture to a preserving pan.
Cook and set
Stir constantly with a wooden spoon and boil for about 10 minutes until very clear.
Drop small lumps onto a marble slab.
Allow to cool until they can be removed easily.
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).
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
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sharp acidity that balances the sweetness of the sugar.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves into the juice and, once boiled, sets into a firm, glossy candy as it cools.
The step that matters
Stirring and boiling the mixture. Constant stirring keeps the sugar from scorching on the base of the pan, and boiling drives off water so the mixture sets firm when cooled. Stop once it is very clear, because overcooking can make the drops brittle or brown.
“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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