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 ↓
Lemon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Boil the cornstarch in the water.
Add the juice and rind of the lemon, sugar, and the yolks of 3 eggs.
Pour the mixture into a pie crust.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then spread over the pie as meringue.
Bake until the meringue is golden.
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 + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the boiled water and lemon mixture so the filling sets into a sliceable custard.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help thicken the lemon filling as it sets.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a stiff foam that forms the airy, browned meringue topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon
- Provides the tart acidity and aroma that define the filling.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Egg whites must be whipped until firm peaks form, because the foam traps air that gives the meringue its volume. Under-beaten whites weep or collapse, and the topping may not hold its shape or brown well.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. 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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