Why it works: Apple and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,598 recipes. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓
Dutch Apple Cake
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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking powder.
Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Beat the egg and add the milk, then stir into the dry mixture.
Spread the batter into a greased pan.
Add the apples and bake
Pare and cut the apples into eighths, then lay them in parallel rows with the sharp edges down.
Sprinkle the apples with sugar and cinnamon, and add small bits of butter on top.
Bake for 20 minutes.
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 + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as the batter sets in the oven.
- Butter
- Rubbed into the flour to tenderise the crumb and add richness.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure and moisture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and gives the batter its moisture and softness.
- Apples
- Add moisture and tartness that contrasts with the sweet topping.
The step that matters
Rub in the butter until coarse crumbs. Working cold butter into flour only until it forms coarse crumbs leaves small fat pockets that give a tender texture. Overworking the mixture develops gluten and makes the cake tough.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, egg, milk, sugar, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, egg, milk, sugar, cinnamon. 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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