Why it works: Lemon and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Lemon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
In a double boiler, combine lemon rind, lemon juice, water, and 1 egg.
Cook until thickened, stirring frequently.
Pour the mixture into a pre-baked pie crust.
Make the topping and finish
Beat the reserved egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Spread the beaten egg whites over the pie.
Brown the frosting lightly in the oven before serving.
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 + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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
- Lemon
- Provides the sharp acidity and fragrant aroma that flavor the filling.
- Eggs
- Thicken the filling as it cooks, and the whites whip into the stiff topping.
- Pie crust
- Holds the filling in a pre-baked shell.
The step that matters
Cook the filling until thickened. Egg proteins set as the mixture heats, but they can curdle or scramble if it gets too hot too fast. Gentle double-boiler heat and frequent stirring keep the filling smooth and evenly thickened.
“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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