Why it works: Lemon and white wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,832 recipes. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓
Lemon Custards
Ingredients
Directions
Make the custard base
In a saucepan, combine sugar, lemon juice, lemon rinds, and white wine.
Heat over low heat until thickened, but do not boil.
Remove the lemon peel and a little of the liquid, then let it cool.
Set and finish
Beat the egg yolks and whites together, then mix with the cooled liquid.
Strain the mixture into a dish and stir well.
Set the dish over boiling water on low heat until set.
Grate lemon rind on top and brown with a hot salamander.
Serve hot or cold.
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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Lemon + white winetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + white winetop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,586 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness as they set over gentle heat.
- Egg whites
- Add lightness and help the custard set with the yolks.
- Double refined sugar
- Sweetens the custard and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright lemon flavour to the custard.
- White wine
- Adds liquid and a mild acidity that carries the lemon flavour.
The step that matters
Heat over low heat until thickened, but do not boil. Egg proteins thicken gently at moderate heat but curdle and turn grainy if boiled, so the base must be heated slowly and watched closely.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, white wine, egg):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Applefits less well
- Plumfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, white wine, 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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