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.
Make the filling
In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
Gradually stir in milk and cook over medium heat until thickened.
Remove from heat and add lemon juice, lemon rind, butter, and egg yolks.
Pour the mixture into a pie crust.
Top and bake
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and spread over the filling.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until the frosting is 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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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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
- Add richness and help thicken the filling as it sets.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk mixture into a smooth, sliceable custard.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a meringue topping that sets and browns in the oven.
- Lemon juice
- Adds the sharp acidity that gives the filling its tang.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the lemon's acidity.
The step that matters
Thickening the filling on the stove. Cornstarch only thickens fully when the mixture is brought to a simmer while stirring, so it stays lump-free. Undercooked starch leaves the filling runny and it may not set after baking.
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.
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