Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Cream Pie, Large
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Combine 2⅓ cups rich milk, 1¾ cup sugar, 1⅓ cup flour, grated rind of 1 lemon, 4½ tablespoons, lemon juice, and 2 large eggs.
Mix flour, sugar and salt. Pour boiling milk over, stirring.
Boil until very thick.
Add lemon juice and yolks of eggs, stir until well mixed and eggs cooked.
Assemble
Spread in baked granella or pastry crust and cover with the meringue.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Thickens the custard as it cooks, giving it a sliceable body.
- Eggs
- Add richness and help set the filling once the yolks are cooked.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright lemon flavour to the custard.
- Rich milk
- Provides the liquid base and creamy richness of the filling.
The step that matters
Boil until very thick. Flour starch thickens only when it is boiled, so the custard must reach a full boil and stay there long enough to set. Stopping early leaves a runny filling, while the egg yolks added later need gentle heat to cook without curdling.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, milk, 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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