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
Juice the lemons and combine with sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and boiling water in a saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring until the mixture thickens.
Pour the filling into pre-baked pie crusts.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Sweeten and spread the meringue on top of the pies.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the meringue is 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 lemon filling and add richness to its custard body.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the filling as it heats, giving it a sliceable set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sharpness of the lemon juice.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a foam that forms the meringue topping.
- Lemons
- Supply the acidity and bright lemon flavour of the filling.
The step that matters
Cook the filling until it thickens. Cornstarch only thickens fully once it reaches a boil and is stirred constantly, so stopping early leaves a runny filling that will not set when cooled.
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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