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 Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lemon water
Grate the peel of the lemon and squeeze out the juice.
Combine the juice and peel in a saucepan with the water and heat.
Make the custard
Rub the cornstarch smooth and beat the yolks of the eggs.
Gradually stir the lemon water into the cornstarch, then add the beaten eggs.
Cook over low heat, stirring until thickened like custard.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture.
Chill and serve
Pour into small dishes and cool in the refrigerator before serving.
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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon liquid into a smooth, custard-like texture as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks thicken and enrich the mixture, while whipped whites add lightness.
- Lemon
- Provides the bright, acidic flavour, with peel adding aroma and juice adding tartness.
The step that matters
Cook over low heat, stirring until thickened. Cornstarch and egg yolks thicken only when heated gently while stirred. Too much heat or too little stirring can scorch the base or leave lumps, and overcooked egg can curdle and turn grainy.
“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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