Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. 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).
In a bowl, combine lemon juice, grated lemon zest, sugar, milk, egg yolks, and cornstarch.
Melt the butter and mix it into the lemon mixture.
Bake and top
Pour the filling into the prepared puff pastry crust.
Bake until set, about 25-30 minutes.
While the pie is baking, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually add 8 tablespoons of sugar until stiff peaks form.
Spread the meringue over the baked pie and return to the oven until the meringue is golden brown.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + buttertop 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the filling into a custard and add richness as they set.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon filling so it holds a clean cut after baking.
- Lemons
- Provide the tart acidity and aroma that define the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the lemon's acidity.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a meringue that gives a light, airy topping that browns in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother, richer filling texture.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Egg whites need to be whipped with sugar added gradually until stiff peaks form. Under-whipped or greasy whites will not hold their shape and can weep or collapse on the pie.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, egg, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, egg, butter. 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.
More lemon pie recipes
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.