Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the filling
Mix egg yolks and flour with cold water to form a paste.
Heat the paste on the stove.
Gradually add boiling water.
Stir in granulated sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind, salt, and butter until well combined.
Pour the hot mixture into a pie pan lined with pastry.
Bake and top
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until set.
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Sweeten the beaten egg whites to taste.
Once the pie is done, cover it with the frosting.
Brown the frosting lightly.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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 they set with the heat.
- Flour
- Thickens the paste so the filling holds its shape when cut.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a stiff foam that forms a light, soft topping.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright flavour to the filling.
The step that matters
Brown the frosting lightly. Meringue sets and browns quickly in the oven, so it can turn bitter or weepy if left too long. Watch it closely and stop once it is lightly golden.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, sugar, butter):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, sugar, butter. 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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