Name: Creme-de Citron, or Lemon Cream
Ingredients: 1 quart spirits of wine; 60 drops oil of citron; 1 quart cold syrup; 2 ounces yellow coloring matter

Why it works: Spirit and wine work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 701 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

Creme-de Citron, or Lemon Cream

Ingredients

1 quart spirits of wine
60 drops oil of citron
1 quart cold syrup
2 ounces yellow coloring matter

Directions

Combine the spirits of wine and oil of citron in a large container.
Shake well to mix thoroughly.
Add the cold syrup and stir to combine.
Incorporate the yellow coloring matter and mix well.
Filter the mixture through filtering paper to remove any solids.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Spirit + winetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together701 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Spirit + syruptop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together141 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Wine + syruptop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together381 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Spirits of wine: Acts as the solvent that dissolves and carries the citron oil flavor through the mixture.
Oil of citron: Provides the concentrated lemon aroma and flavor that defines the cream.
Cold syrup: Adds sweetness and body to the mixture.
Yellow coloring matter: Gives the cream its yellow color.

“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.