Why it works: Sugar and lemon 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 Gelatine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the gelatine in 1 cup of cold water for 2 hours.
Add 1 cup of boiling water and stir until dissolved.
Flavour and set
Mix in 2-3 cups of sugar, grated lemon rind, and lemon juice.
Strain the mixture and set it in a cool place to set.
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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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon 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
- Gelatine
- Provides the gel structure that makes the liquid set firm when chilled.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright lemon flavour.
The step that matters
Dissolving the gelatine fully. Gelatine must be completely dissolved in the hot water before the sugar and lemon are added. Undissolved granules leave soft spots or grainy patches and can prevent an even set.
“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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