Why it works: Lemon and strawberry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,206 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Place the egg whites in a shallow dish.
Sprinkle some sugar over the egg whites and beat for about 30 minutes, gradually adding the rest of the sugar.
Flavor the icing with lemon juice, tartaric acid, or fruit juices as desired.
Dredge the cooled cake with flour before icing to prevent running.
Spread the icing on the cake using a large knife dipped in cold water.
Set the frosted cake in a cool, dry place or a moderate oven (350°F) to harden.
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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Lemon + strawberrytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,206 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + strawberrytop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,060 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
Swap the lemon
The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, strawberry):
- Vanillafits better
- Pineapplefits better
- Bananafits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, strawberry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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