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Dessert

Lemon Filling for Cakes

A lemon and coconut filling thickened in a double boiler, used in cakes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Coconut and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,233 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Lemon Filling for Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Combine the coconut, egg, lemon rind, lemon juice, and sugar in a double boiler.

  2. Cook over simmering water, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens to a jelly-like consistency, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Use leftovers

  1. If you have leftover filling, mix in icing sugar to use as icing.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Coconut + lemontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  2. Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  4. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Coconut + sugartop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,742 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

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
Thickens the filling as it cooks and gives it a set, custard-like structure.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps it become smooth and glossy as it cooks.
Lemon
Provides the bright acidity and aroma that flavour the filling.
Coconut
Adds moisture, body and a chewy texture to the filling.

The step that matters

Cook gently over simmering water. Egg proteins set at moderate heat, so direct high heat can scramble the egg and curdle the filling. A double boiler keeps the heat gentle and steady while stirring prevents sticking.

Swap the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, lemon, sugar):

  1. Orangefits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Limefits better
  4. Coconutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, lemon, sugar. 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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