Why it works: Butter and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Lemon Pie
2 large pies or 3 small onesIngredients
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, butter, hot water, egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon rind, and cornstarch until well combined.
Pour the mixture into pie crusts to make 2 large pies or 3 small ones.
Make and bake the meringue
In another bowl, beat the egg whites with 1 tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form.
Spread the beaten egg whites on top of the pies.
Bake in the oven until the meringue is 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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Butter + lemontop 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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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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 yolks
- Thicken the filling and add richness as they set with the cornstarch.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon filling so it holds a cut slice shape when cooled.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sharp acidity that defines the pie's flavour.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a richer, smoother filling texture.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into stiff peaks to form the meringue topping that browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Egg whites must be whipped until they hold stiff peaks so the meringue keeps its volume and shape. Any trace of fat or yolk in the bowl can stop them from whipping properly, and underbeaten whites will weep or slump in the oven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, 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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