Why it works: Lemon and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Lemon Snow
Ingredients
Directions
Make the lemon gelatine
Soften the gelatine in cold water.
Dissolve the softened gelatine in boiling water.
Add lemon juice and saccharin.
Strain the mixture and set aside to chill, stirring occasionally.
Whip and set
When the mixture starts to set, beat until very light.
Add the beaten egg whites.
Continue beating until the mixture begins to stiffen.
Turn the mixture into a moistened mold.
Chill the molded dessert.
Serve
Serve with Lemon Custard Sauce.
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 + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a light, wobbly structure that holds the whipped foam.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that gives the dessert its light, airy texture.
- Lemon juice
- Adds tart acidity that balances the sweetness of the dessert.
The step that matters
Beat until the mixture begins to stiffen, but not past that point. Whipping the gelatine mixture as it begins to set traps air for a light texture. If it chills too far before beating, it will not whip up well; if it is over-beaten, the foam can lose its smooth, airy quality.
“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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