Why it works: Lemon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the icing
Squeeze and strain the juice of the lemon.
Gradually stir in enough sugar to create a spreadable icing.
Ice and set
Cover the top of the cake with the icing.
Set the cake aside in a cool place for 1 to 2 hours.
For a deeper icing, add a second layer after the first has set for a few minutes.
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 + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar 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
- Lemon
- Its juice gives the icing its tart, bright flavour that balances the sweetness of the sugar.
- Sugar
- Dissolves into the lemon juice to form a thick, spreadable icing that sets as it cools.
The step that matters
Gradually stir in the sugar. Adding sugar too quickly can leave grains undissolved or make the icing too stiff or too runny. Adding it slowly lets the sugar dissolve into the juice, giving a smooth, spreadable texture.
“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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