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 gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the crust
Line a pie plate with the crust and create a rim around the edge.
Prick the crust to prevent it from rising in the center.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
Make the filling
In a double boiler, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice, lemon rind, beaten egg, and hot water; cook until thickened.
Pour the filling into the baked crust.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Gradually add powdered sugar to the egg whites.
Spread the meringue over the pie and bake until lightly 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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Sugar + lemontop 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).
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
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that forms the light, stiff meringue topping.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon filling as it cooks until it sets.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the tart acidity that balances the sweetness of the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps balance the lemon's tartness.
- Beaten egg
- Adds richness and helps thicken and set the lemon filling.
The step that matters
Cooking the lemon filling until thickened. Cornstarch only thickens fully when the mixture reaches a boil and is stirred, and it must be cooked enough to set. Undercooked filling stays runny and will not hold a clean slice once cooled.
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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