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Dessert

Lemon Pie--Cornstarch

A lemon pie thickened with cornstarch, filled with lemon juice and rind, and topped with meringue.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Evora Bucknum Perkins · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Corn and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,927 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Lemon Pie--Cornstarch

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Mix cornstarch, the ½ cup of sugar and butter.

  2. Pour boiling water over and cook.

  3. Remove from fire.

  4. Add the 1 cup of sugar, the lemon juice, grated rind and beaten yolks of eggs.

Bake and finish

  1. Bake in 1 crust.

  2. Make meringue with whites of eggs and sprinkle sugar over the top.

  3. Butter may be omitted.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

594Calories
20 gProtein
7 gFat
112 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Evora Bucknum Perkins. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

  1. Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,927 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  4. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sugar + corntop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,168 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

Cornstarch (in the method)
Thickens the filling into a smooth, sliceable custard as it cooks in hot water.
Eggs
Yolks enrich and thicken the filling; whites whip into the meringue topping.
Lemon juice
Adds the sharp acidity that balances the sugar and gives the filling its flavour.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps the meringue whites hold their structure.

The step that matters

Cooking the cornstarch filling. Cornstarch only thickens fully when the mixture is brought to a boil and stirred while hot. Removing it too early leaves a thin filling that will not set firmly after cooling.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, corn):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Coconutfits about as well
  3. Raisinfits about as well
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, corn. 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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