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 ↓
Apple Snowball
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the rice
In a double boiler, cook the rice with salt, milk, and water until all the liquid is absorbed.
Fill and steam
Butter small moulds or cups generously and line them with ½ inch of hot rice.
Place a quarter of a sour apple in the center and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon or lemon juice.
Cover the apple with more rice and steam for 30 minutes in a steamer or in a pan of hot water on the stove.
Unmould and serve
For best results, slightly cook the apples beforehand.
Carefully remove from the moulds to maintain their shape and serve with creamy sauce.
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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Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Its starch cooks into a soft, sticky mass that binds and holds the shape of each mould.
- Milk
- Adds richness and a creamy texture as the rice absorbs the liquid.
- Sour apple
- Provides tart flavour and moisture that contrasts with the mild, sweet rice.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the tartness of the apple.
The step that matters
Unmoulding the rice. The cooked rice starch firms as it cools, so it holds its shape when set. Remove the shapes gently after they have settled, so the rice does not tear or slump and the apple stays enclosed.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, sugar, cinnamon, butter, sauce):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, sugar, cinnamon, butter, sauce. 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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