Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Dried Sour Apples, with Dried Black Raspberries
Ingredients
Directions
Wash the dried apples and raspberries lightly.
Soak the apples and raspberries separately overnight in enough water to cover them.
In the morning, place the apples in a pot with the soaking water and add more water to cover them.
Cover the pot and bring to a boil, stirring gently to ensure even cooking.
When the apples are half cooked, add the raspberries along with their juice.
Once the apples are tender, add sugar to taste and let simmer for 30 minutes until the mixture is a rich color.
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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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
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