Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Lemon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the egg yolks.
Add sugar, cream, flour, lemon rind, and lemon juice in that order, then beat well.
Pour the mixture into an open pie crust.
Bake the filling
Bake until set.
Make and brown the meringue
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Gradually add 4 tablespoons of sugar.
Spread the meringue over the baked pie.
Return to the oven to brown lightly.
Cool and serve
Let cool before serving.
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + flourtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Yolks thicken the filling as they set, and whites whip into the meringue's airy structure.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and, added gradually, stabilizes the whipped egg whites in the meringue.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, giving the filling a smooth, tender texture.
- Flour
- Helps thicken the filling so it sets into a sliceable custard.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the acidity that gives the filling its bright, tart flavor.
The step that matters
Adding the sugar gradually to the egg whites. Sugar added slowly to whipped egg whites dissolves and stabilizes the foam, so the meringue stays glossy and holds its peaks when spread and browned.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, cream, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, cream, flour. 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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