Why it works: Corn and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,927 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Cream together the sugar and butter.
Beat the egg and mix it with the butter and sugar.
Stir in the corn starch.
Pour the boiling water over the mixture and stir over heat until thick.
Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and grated rind.
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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Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Adds richness and helps bind the sauce as it thickens.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the sauce when heated with the liquid.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the sauce and balances the lemon's acidity.
The step that matters
Stirring the boiling water into the mixture. Corn starch only thickens fully when heated with liquid, so the sauce must be stirred over heat until thick. Stopping early leaves it thin, and overheating can cause lumps or a dull texture.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, corn):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, corn. 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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