Why it works: Orange and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orangeade, or Lemonade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the flavours
Squeeze the juice from the oranges or lemons.
Pour boiling water over a little of the peel and cover it tightly.
Make the syrup
Boil the water and sugar together to create a thin syrup, then skim it.
Combine and strain
Once everything is cold, mix the juice, the infused water, and the syrup.
Add more water to achieve a rich sherbet consistency.
Strain the mixture through a jelly bag.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Sugar
- Sweetens the drink and, dissolved in boiling water, forms the syrup that balances the citrus acidity.
- Juice of oranges or lemons
- Supplies the main citrus flavour and the sharp acidity that defines the lemonade.
- Peel of oranges or lemons
- Contributes aromatic oils that add fragrance and depth to the infused water.
The step that matters
Let everything cool before mixing. Mixing hot syrup with juice can dull the fresh citrus aroma and flavour, and cooling ensures the drink is refreshing and the sherbet-like consistency is reached as intended.
“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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