Lemon Pie
Note Profile
About
Lemon Pie is a gourmand accord with three layers. Tart lemon custard and zest on top, sweet vanilla meringue in the middle, and a buttery shortcrust base. The pastry base is what separates it from a sugared or candied lemon, which stops at citrus over vanilla sugar.
Scent Profile
Citrus leads because both supplier descriptions open there, one with 'lemon custard and lemon zests' and the other with 'the tart Lemon accentuates the Vanilla custard'. It is held below the published Lemon note's 0.95 because here the fruit is cooked into a curd and sweetened, not zested fresh. Sweet_vanillic is the meringue and the vanilla custard, named by both sources and by the third supplier's 'vanilla and granulated sugar' base. Lactonic is the butter, split between the curd and the shortcrust shell. It sits well under the published Shortcrust Pastry note's 0.72 because the pastry is one layer of three here, not the whole note. Sour is the word 'tart', which both sources use for the lemon. Nutty is the toasted-pastry warmth of a baked shell, and Powdery is icing sugar and the dried surface of the meringue. Both of those sit at about half the level the standalone Meringue and Shortcrust Pastry notes carry, for the same reason. No green accord is scored: the only source that names green accords is the Sugared Lemon oil used for contrast, not a Lemon Pie source, and importing it would be borrowing a descriptor from the wrong material.
ScentWheel
Read off the wheel, not a label applied to the note.
Origin
Not an extract. Lemon Pie is a constructed accord, sold widely as a fragrance oil for candles and soap under the name Lemon Meringue Pie. Suppliers build it from citrus terpenes and lemon aldehydes for the fruit, vanillin and ethyl maltol for the meringue, and lactones and buttery pyrazine-type materials for the crust. The reference dessert is lemon meringue pie: a shortcrust shell, a lemon curd filling set with egg yolk, and a whipped sugar-and-egg-white meringue browned on top.
Usage in Perfumery
Used in gourmand and dessert compositions where a bright fruit lead is wanted over a bakery base. It gives a fragrance a recognisable pudding shape without the heaviness of chocolate or caramel. Works next to meringue, custard, shortcrust pastry, butter, vanilla and white musks. The citrus lead makes it usable higher in a composition than most gourmand notes.
Similar Notes
Perfumes featuring Lemon Pie
A selection of reviewed perfumes where Lemon Pie appears prominently.
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