Why it works: Lemon and sugar 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 gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the filling
Mix the lemon juice, grated lemon, 1 cup sugar, cornstarch, and a little water to form a rich paste.
Beat the egg yolks and mix in 7 tablespoons of sugar and the lemon mixture.
Assemble the pie
Prepare the pie crust as you would for other pies.
Pour the lemon filling into the crust.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites with 1 tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form.
Spread the egg white mixture over the pie and return it to a 400°F (200°C) oven until the top is light brown.
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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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar 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 lemon filling and add richness to its custard-like body.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon paste so the filling sets firm rather than runny.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into stiff peaks to form a light topping that browns in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps stabilise the whipped egg white topping.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Under-whipped whites deflate and weep, while over-whipped whites turn dry and grainy. Stiff, glossy peaks hold the topping's shape and brown evenly in the oven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, 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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