Why it works: Sugar and lemon 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 ↓
Lemon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the yolks of the eggs in a bowl.
Add the sugar and then the water to the egg yolks.
Place the mixture in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Once almost boiling, add the lemon juice and zest mixed with a little water.
Stir for a few minutes, then add the cornstarch dissolved in water.
Boil until the mixture thickens.
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 + 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).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and help give the filling a smooth, custard-like body as they set.
- Cornstarch
- Gelatinizes when boiled with liquid, thickening the filling so it holds its shape.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sharp acidity of the lemon.
- Lemons
- Juice provides acidity and bright flavour, while zest adds aroma.
The step that matters
Boil until the mixture thickens. Cornstarch only thickens fully once the mixture reaches a boil and stays there briefly, so stopping early leaves a thin filling. Stir constantly to prevent scorching and lumps.
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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