Why it works: Butter and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Lemon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the crust
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make a delicate pie crust.
Line a pie plate with the crust.
Prick the crust all over with a fork to prevent blisters.
Bake the crust until golden.
Make the lemon filling
Dissolve the cornstarch in cold water.
Stir the dissolved cornstarch into 1 cup of boiling water.
Cook the mixture until it becomes clear.
Add sugar and butter to the mixture.
Cook until the mixture becomes creamy.
When the mixture is nearly cool, stir in lemon juice, grated rind, and beaten egg yolks.
Fill the baked crust with the lemon filling.
Top with meringue and bake
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Lightly stir in powdered sugar and lemon juice into the beaten egg whites.
Heap the meringue on top of the pie.
Brown the meringue in the oven for about 20 minutes.
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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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sugar and lemon 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the filling and add richness as it sets with the cornstarch.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon mixture so the filling sets smooth and sliceable.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to form the meringue, giving the topping its light, airy structure.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps stabilize the whipped egg white meringue.
- Lemon juice and rind
- Provide the sharp acidity and aroma that define the lemon flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture in the filling.
The step that matters
Cook the filling until clear and creamy before adding the eggs. Cornstarch must be fully boiled to thicken properly, or the filling stays runny. Adding egg yolks to a hot mixture can scramble them, so letting it cool nearly fully first helps keep the filling smooth.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, 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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