Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
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.
Make the filling
In a basin over water, mix the lemon juice, grated rind, sugar, water, cornstarch (or flour), and beaten egg yolks.
Cook the mixture until thickened.
Bake and brown
Line a pie plate with the pie crust and pour in the lemon mixture.
Bake until the crust is done at 350°F (175°C).
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks, adding 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Spread the whipped egg whites over the pie and brown in the 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 + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + flourtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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 and a custard-like texture.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon mixture as it cooks, giving it a set, sliceable body.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a meringue topping that sets and browns in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps the meringue whip and hold its shape.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sharp acidity that defines the pie's flavour.
The step that matters
Cook the filling until thickened. Starch thickens only when heated enough to swell and set, and the egg yolks can scramble if the mixture gets too hot too fast. Cook it gently over water, stirring, until it coats a spoon, so it sets smoothly.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, 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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