Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
In a bowl, mix the lemon juice, sugar, chopped raisins, milk, butter, salt, flour, and egg until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a pie crust.
Sprinkle a little nutmeg on top.
Bake
Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until set.
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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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Raisin + nutmegtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,377 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Sets the filling into a custard-like texture as it bakes.
- Flour
- Thickens the filling so it holds its shape when sliced.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness to the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the sharpness of the lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Provides the sour, bright flavour that defines the pie.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Egg-thickened fillings continue to firm as they cool, and underbaking leaves a runny centre while overbaking can make the egg curdle or weep. Check for a set centre rather than relying only on the time range.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, raisin, milk, butter, flour, egg, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
- Coconutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, raisin, milk, butter, flour, egg, nutmeg. 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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