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 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the filling
Juice the lemons.
Combine the juice with sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and boiling water in a saucepan.
Boil the mixture until it thickens, stirring constantly.
Assemble and bake
Pour the filling into the pre-baked pie crusts.
Spread the beaten and sweetened egg whites on top of the filling.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until the tops are nicely 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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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 filling and add richness as they set with the cornstarch.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the lemon juice and sugar mixture into a smooth, sliceable filling.
- Lemons
- Provide the sharp acidity that balances the sugar in the filling.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a sweetened meringue that bakes to a light, browned topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps balance the lemon's tartness.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture until it thickens, stirring constantly.. Cornstarch only thickens fully when the mixture reaches a boil, and the egg yolks can scramble if the heat is uneven. Constant stirring keeps the filling smooth and evenly thickened.
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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