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Lemon Cheesecake Mixture

A mixture of butter, sugar, lemon rind, lemon juice, and eggs that can be stored for up to three months.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and lemon 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 Cheesecake Mixture

Ingredients

Directions

Make the lemon mixture

  1. Combine butter, sugar, lemon rind, and lemon juice in a saucepan.

  2. Melt over low heat.

  3. Whip the egg yolks and whites (if using) in a separate bowl.

  4. Gradually add the whipped eggs to the melted mixture, stirring gently.

Cook and store

  1. Cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, ensuring it does not boil.

  2. Remove from heat and let it thicken.

  3. It can be stored for up to 3 months.

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. Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

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

  2. Butter + eggtop 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. Sugar + lemontop 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).

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

Eggs
Yolks and whites thicken the mixture as they cook gently, giving it a set, custard-like body.
Butter
Adds fat that melts smoothly and gives the mixture a rich, silky mouthfeel.
Sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps it stay smooth and glossy as it cooks.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that gives the mixture its bright, sharp lemon flavour.

The step that matters

Cook over low heat without boiling. Egg proteins set gently with heat, but boiling can curdle the eggs and leave the mixture grainy. Gentle heat and steady stirring keep it smooth as it thickens.

Swap the lemon

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, 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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