Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the filling
Mix cornstarch with 3 tablespoons cold water, then pour boiling water over it.
Beat together sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind, and the yolks and one egg white.
Pour the cornstarch mixture into the egg mixture.
Bake
Line a deep pie plate with pastry and pour the combined mixtures into it.
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 35 minutes.
Top and brown
When the pie is nearly cool, beat the remaining 2 egg whites to stiff peaks, then gradually beat in powdered sugar.
Spread the meringue over the pie and brown slowly in a cool oven.
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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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).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the filling as they set, and whites form the airy meringue topping.
- Cornstarch
- Starch thickens the filling when heated with boiling water, giving it a sliceable set.
- Lemon
- Juice provides sharp acidity and the rind adds aromatic lemon flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps stabilize the whites in the meringue.
The step that matters
Beating the meringue. Whites must reach stiff peaks before sugar is added gradually, so the foam holds its shape. Sugar added too early or too fast can leave the meringue weepy or limp.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. 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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