Why it works: Lemon and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Maraschino Water Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Juice the lemons and strain the juice.
Beat the egg whites until frothy.
Mix and freeze
Mix the lemon juice, maraschino, and egg whites together lightly.
Freeze the mixture until solid.
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 + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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
- Lemons
- Provide the sharp acidity and bright flavor of the ice.
- Maraschino liqueur
- Adds aroma and sweetness, and its alcohol keeps the ice softer when frozen.
- Egg whites
- Trap air when beaten, giving the frozen ice a lighter, more delicate texture.
The step that matters
Mix the egg whites in lightly. Egg whites hold air only while their foam is intact. Stirring them in gently keeps the air trapped, so the frozen ice stays light rather than dense and icy.
“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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