Why it works: Lemon and sugar 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 ↓
Plain Lemon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grate the yellow rind of the lemon and squeeze out the juice.
In a bowl, combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and egg yolk; stir well.
In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch with cold water until smooth.
Pour the cornstarch mixture into the lemon mixture and stir.
Transfer to a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until it thickens into a clear jelly.
Assemble and bake
Once the pie crusts are baked, fill them with the lemon filling.
Beat the egg white until stiff peaks form and spread it over the filling.
Bake in the oven for a few minutes until the meringue is delicately browned.
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 + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar 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
- Thickens the lemon juice and sugar mixture into a smooth, sliceable filling when heated.
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and helps set the lemon filling as it cooks.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sharp acidity of the lemon.
- Egg white
- Whips into a foam that forms the meringue topping and browns in the oven.
- Lemon
- Supplies the zest for aroma and the juice for the tart, bright flavour.
The step that matters
Cooking the lemon filling until it thickens. Cornstarch only thickens fully once the mixture reaches a boil while stirring. Stopping too early leaves the filling thin, and it may loosen further after baking.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, 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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