Why it works: Sugar and lemon 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 ↓
Cranberry Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cranberry base
Pick over and wash the cranberries.
Add water, cover, and cook until very soft.
Press through a sieve, add sugar, and cook for 3 minutes.
Freeze
Cool the mixture, add lemon juice, and freeze.
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.
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Cranberries
- Provide the main tart flavor, color, and pectin that gives the pulp body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and lowers the freezing point so the ice stays softer.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sugar.
The step that matters
Cook the cranberries until very soft. Fully softened berries release their pulp and pectin, so pressing through a sieve yields a smooth base. Under-cooked fruit leaves skins and lumps that make the frozen ice coarse.
“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.
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.