Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Lemon Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the gelatine in ½ cup of cold water for 10 minutes.
Combine all prepared ingredients in a saucepan over low heat.
Make the jelly
Whisk until it begins to boil, then allow to boil without stirring.
Simmer for another 10 minutes.
Strain through a clean, scalded cloth until clear.
Set and serve
Set in a rinsed mould and let it firm up, preferably in ice.
To serve, dip the mould in hot water for a moment and turn out onto a cold dish.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Clove + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cinnamon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Sets the liquid into a firm, wobbly jelly as it cools.
- Egg white
- Gathers small particles as it cooks, helping the strained jelly become clear.
- Lemon juice
- Adds sharp acidity that balances the sweetness and gives the jelly its flavour.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and body to the liquid, balancing the acidity of the lemon.
- Lemon rinds
- Release aromatic oils into the hot liquid, adding citrus fragrance and flavour.
The step that matters
Strain through a clean, scalded cloth until clear. Straining removes cloudy particles and any residue left after boiling. A clean, scalded cloth keeps the jelly free of off-flavours and lint, so it sets clear rather than murky.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cinnamon, clove, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cinnamon, clove, 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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