Why it works: Lemon and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,927 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Juice the lemons and grate the rind of one lemon.
In a bowl, mix the lemon juice, grated rind, melted butter, eggs, sugar, water, and corn starch until smooth.
Pour the mixture into a pie crust and bake for 25-30 minutes until set.
Make the meringue and finish
While the pie is baking, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add 3 tablespoons of sugar until stiff peaks form.
Spread the meringue over the baked pie and return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes until golden.
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 + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the custard filling, giving it structure as they cook.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the lemon filling so it holds a clean cut.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the tart lemon juice.
- Lemons
- Provide the juice and rind that give the filling its sharp lemon flavour.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a meringue that adds airy volume and browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Egg whites hold air only when whipped to the right stage; underwhipped whites weep and deflate, while overwhipped whites turn dry and grainy. Adding sugar gradually stabilises the foam.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, corn):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, corn. 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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