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 ↓
A Fine Lemonade for Parties
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sugar and rind base
Rub the rinds of the lemons on the sugar until it absorbs the oil.
Combine the rinds with the remaining sugar in a bowl.
Make and serve the lemonade
In a jug, add the lemon juice and pour the boiling water over the mixture.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then strain the lemonade through a piece of muslin.
Let it cool before serving.
Add seltzer water to sharpen the flavor and serve with fruit.
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.
-
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
- Lemons (rind)
- Lemon rind oils release aroma and flavor into the sugar when rubbed into it.
- Lemons (juice)
- Juice supplies the sour acidity that balances the sweetness of the sugar.
- Loaf sugar
- Sugar adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the lemon juice.
- Boiling water
- Hot water dissolves the sugar and carries the lemon flavors through the drink.
- Seltzer water
- Carbonation adds lightness and a sharper, fizzy bite to the finished drink.
The step that matters
Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Undissolved sugar leaves the lemonade gritty and unevenly sweet. Hot water and stirring help the crystals dissolve fully before straining, so the sweetness is even throughout.
“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.
More lemonade recipes
You might also like
Lemon Whey33 recipes
Lemon Wine31 recipes
Lemon Squash10 recipes
Lemon Essence8 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.