Why it works: Corn and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,927 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Boil the water and corn starch until the taste of starch is gone.
Juice the lemons and add to the mixture.
Finish and freeze
Sweeten to taste once the mixture is cold.
Leave the lemon rind in for a while.
Strain through a sieve.
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.
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Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 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
- Corn starch
- Thickens the liquid and gives the finished ice a smoother, more body-filled texture.
- Lemons
- Provide sharp acidity and fragrant oils, with the rind adding aroma.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the lemon's tartness and softens the frozen texture.
The step that matters
Boil the water and corn starch until the taste of starch is gone. Starch granules swell and thicken when heated, but raw starch leaves a chalky, floury taste. Boiling fully cooks the starch, so the base tastes clean before the lemon and sugar are added.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, 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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