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
The book says “a rather cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the filling
Mix cornstarch with 3 tablespoons cold water.
Pour boiling water over the mixture.
Beat together sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind, the yolks, and one egg white.
Pour the cornstarch mixture into the egg mixture.
Line a deep pie plate with the pie crust.
Pour the combined mixture into the lined plate.
Bake and top with meringue
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 35 minutes.
Beat the remaining 2 egg whites to stiff peaks. Gradually beat in powdered sugar.
Spread the meringue over the pie.
Brown the meringue slowly in a cool oven.
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 thicken the filling and egg whites whip into the meringue topping.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon filling as it cooks so it sets into a sliceable custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps stabilize the beaten egg whites in the meringue.
- Lemon
- Supplies the acidity and aroma that give the filling its tart flavor.
The step that matters
Browning the meringue slowly. Meringue made with sugar and egg white can weep or turn tough if it is baked too hot. A cool oven dries and sets it gently while it turns golden without shrinking or scorching.
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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