Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Champagne Punch
Ingredients
Directions
In a large punch bowl, combine the champagne, hock, curacao, lemon slices, and orange slices.
Sweeten the mixture to taste with sugar.
About 15 minutes before serving, add the ice.
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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Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Champagne + orangetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together260 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Champagne + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together404 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Champagne
- Provides bubbles and a light, sparkling body to the punch.
- Hock
- Adds a dry, wine-based body that dilutes the sweetness and balances the punch.
- Curacao
- Adds orange flavour and a touch of sweetness to the punch.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the punch to taste, softening the acidity of the citrus and wine.
The step that matters
Adding the ice. Ice melts and dilutes the punch, and adding it too early over-waters the drink and flattens the carbonation. Adding it about 15 minutes before serving keeps the punch chilled and lively.
“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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