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 Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gelatine
Soak the gelatine in water.
Add the rind of the lemons cut very thin and let it stand for thirty minutes.
Dissolve the mixture over low heat and strain it to cool.
Make the cream
Beat the eggs and sugar together, then add the juice of the lemons.
Pour the mixture onto the gelatine and stir over low heat with a wooden spoon until it begins to thicken; do not let it boil.
Set and serve
Pour into a wet mold and serve 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.
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).
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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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Eggs
- Thicken the cream as they cook gently and add richness and body.
- Gelatine
- Sets the cream so it holds its shape when chilled and unmolded.
- Lemons
- Provide the sharp acidity and lemon aroma, with rind flavour from the zest.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the cream and balances the sharpness of the lemon juice.
The step that matters
Stir over low heat without boiling. Egg proteins thicken gently at low heat, but boiling can curdle the eggs and leave a grainy texture, so the mixture must only thicken gradually.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. 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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