Why it works: Butter and milk 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Beat the sugar and egg yolks together in a bowl.
Add the melted butter and corn starch, mixing well.
Stir in the sweet milk, lemon juice, and grated lemon rind.
Pour the mixture into a pie crust.
Bake and top with meringue
Bake until set, about 25-30 minutes.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Gradually add 3 tablespoons of sugar to the egg whites, continuing to beat until glossy.
Spread the meringue over the pie and return to the oven until 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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Corn + walnuttop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together349 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Walnut + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,149 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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 and whites form the stiff, glossy meringue.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the lemon filling so it sets firmly when baked.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the filling and stabilizes the beaten egg whites in the meringue.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sharp acidity that defines the lemon flavor and balances the sweetness.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth texture to the filling.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whites must be beaten until they hold firm peaks, and sugar added gradually, so the meringue stays stable and glossy. Any trace of fat or yolk in the bowl prevents the whites from whipping properly.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, corn, butter, milk, lemon):
- Almondfits better
- Walnutthe original
- Lima beansfits about as well
- Beansfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, corn, butter, milk, lemon. 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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