Why it works: Apple and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,586 recipes mention both. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
- TOPPING
Directions
Prepare
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Place cornflakes into one baked 9-inch pie shell.
Add five large tart apples, unpeeled, sliced thin, and sprinkle with maple syrup.
Make the topping
Combine flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Work the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or fingers until the mixture resembles irregular bread crumbs.
Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the apple slices.
Bake and serve
Bake pie for 10 minutes at 450°F.
Reduce heat to 350°F and continue baking for about 35 minutes or until apples are tender and bubbling.
Serve warm.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Apple + cinnamontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,586 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together30,777 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Apple + maple syruptop 5% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together272 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + cinnamontop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together16,954 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Apple + buttertop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together8,692 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,777 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Apples
- Provide the fruit filling that softens and becomes tender as the pie bakes.
- Butter
- Cut into the flour to form crumbs that melt and crisp into a rich, tender topping.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the crumb topping, binding with butter to create crisp clusters.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the topping brown as it bakes.
- Maple syrup
- Adds sweetness and moisture to the apples while contributing a distinct flavor.
The step that matters
Work the butter into the flour until it resembles irregular bread crumbs. Leaving the butter in large pieces or overworking it changes the texture of the topping. Cold butter kept in distinct bits creates pockets that crisp, while overworked butter blends into a dense, less crumbly layer.
“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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