Why it works: Apple and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,207 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
A Very - Nice Apple Pie or Tart
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
In a saucepan, combine sugar, lemon slices, mace, and water, and bring to a boil.
Carefully add the apples and simmer until tender and clear.
Remove the apples and place them on a dish, keeping them whole.
Boil the liquid until only enough juice remains for the pies.
Assemble and bake
Line a pie plate with crust and arrange the apples inside.
Add wine to the remaining juice, pour it over the apples.
Brush the crust and apples with egg white and sprinkle with fine sugar.
Bake until the crust is golden brown.
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 + winetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,207 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Lemon + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,157 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + macetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together865 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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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
What each ingredient does
- Greening apples
- Hold their shape when simmered and provide the fruit filling for the pie.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and helps the apples turn clear and tender as they cook.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the syrup and apples.
- Wine
- Adds flavour and aroma to the reduced juice poured over the apples.
- Egg white
- Brushed on the crust, it helps the top brown and gives a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Simmering the apples. Simmering too hard or too long can break the apples apart, so they should be cooked gently until just tender and clear, then lifted out whole.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, lemon, wine, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, lemon, wine, 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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