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Dessert

Lemon Butter

A lemon custard dessert made with lemon rind, juice, eggs, butter, cornstarch, boiling water, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 Butter

Ingredients

Directions

Make the lemon butter

  1. In a saucepan, combine the grated lemon rind, lemon juice, eggs, and butter.

  2. Add the dissolved cornstarch and boiling water, stirring well.

  3. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens and becomes clear.

Set and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into molds and let it cool.

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. Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

  5. Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Eggs
Set into the custard as it heats, giving body and richness to the lemon mixture.
Cornstarch
Thickens the mixture as it heats, turning it glossy and clear.
Lemon juice
Adds sharp acidity that balances the sweetness and gives the dessert its flavour.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture and mouthfeel.
Sugar
Sweetens the dessert and balances the lemon's acidity.

The step that matters

Cooking until thickened. Cornstarch only thickens fully once it reaches a boil and its starch granules swell and gelatinise. Stopping early leaves a thin, starchy mixture, while overheating eggs can make them curdle. Stir steadily over medium heat and watch for the mixture to turn clear and thick.

Swap the lemon

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Lemonthe original
  3. Raisinfits about as well
  4. Figfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, 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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