Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Sunny Silver Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Soak the gelatine in ½ cup of cold water.
In a rounded bottom enamel bowl, combine egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon rind, and ½ cup of sugar.
Place the bowl in a larger pan of boiling water and whip the mixture until firm and creamy.
Reduce heat and fold in the soaked gelatine.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then combine with the remaining ½ cup of sugar and fold into the yolk mixture.
Set and serve
Pour the filling into a large baked pie shell and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Whip the cream and spread it on the pie just before serving.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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
- Gelatine
- Sets the filling into a sliceable, firm custard-like texture as it chills.
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken and enrich the filling while whites are beaten to add lightness.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness and flavour of the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites.
- Whipping cream
- Adds richness and a light, creamy topping when whipped.
The step that matters
Whip the yolk mixture over boiling water until firm. The yolks must be heated and whipped until thick so they thicken the filling and cook safely. Adding the gelatine only after the mixture is reduced in heat keeps the gelatine from being damaged or the filling from curdling.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Strawberryfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, cream. 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.
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.