Why it works: Lemon and sugar 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 ↓
Sliced 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.
Prepare
Peel and slice the lemons very thin.
Line a deep pie plate with the pie crust and place the lemon slices inside.
In a bowl, mix the beaten eggs with water, sugar, and cornstarch.
Pour the egg mixture over the lemons in the pie crust.
Bake
Cover with the upper pie crust and bake at 350°F (175°C) until the lemons are tender.
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 + 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).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar 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
- Eggs
- Set into a custard that holds the lemon slices together when baked.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the egg and liquid mixture so the filling holds its shape when cut.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sourness of the lemon.
- Lemons
- Provide the main flavour and acidity, and their thin slices soften as the pie bakes.
The step that matters
Pour the egg mixture over the lemons. The egg and cornstarch mixture must be evenly mixed and poured over the lemons so the filling sets uniformly; uneven mixing can leave pockets of runny or lumpy custard.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. 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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