Name: Ritz Cracker "Apple" Pie
Ingredients: 1 pre-made pie crust; 44 Ritz crackers, crumbled; 1 3/4 cup water; 2 cups sugar; 2 teaspoons cream of tartar (not tartar sauce, like my dad thought it was); 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 2 tablespoons margarine or butter, or the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray works, too.; 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Why it works: Lemon and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,950 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Ritz Cracker "Apple" Pie

Oven425°F

Time30 to 35 minutes

Ingredients

1 pre-made pie crust
44 Ritz crackers, crumbled
1 3/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cream of tartar (not tartar sauce, like my dad thought it was)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, or the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray works, too.
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Prepare the crust

Roll out half the pastry and line a 9-inch pie tin.
Put about three-quarters the cracker crumbs in the prepared crust and set it aside.
Take the other quarter and put it elsewhere.

Make the syrup

Heat the water, sugar, and cream of tartar to a boil over high heat.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove the mixture from the heat and add the lemon juice.
Let cool.

Assemble and bake

Pour the cooled syrup over the cracker crumbs.
Dot it with margarine or butter.
Add the mix to the pie crust.
Add the remaining quarter of the crumbs on top of the mix, to form an upper crust.
Bake at 425°F for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden.
Cool.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

675Calories

14 gProtein

18 gFat

114 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 9 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Pie Crust	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,950 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,787 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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

Ritz crackers: Crumbs form the body and crisp, toasted upper crust of the pie.
Sugar: Sweetens the syrup and helps it thicken as it cooks down.
Cream of tartar: Acidifies the syrup, helping keep the sugar smooth and stable during cooking.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the syrup.
Margarine or butter: Adds fat for richness and helps the top crust brown.

The step that matters

Cool the syrup before pouring it over the crumbs. Pouring hot syrup onto crumbs makes them soak and turn mushy rather than holding a set, custard-like filling. Letting the syrup cool first lets it thicken slightly and keeps the crumbs intact.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, sauce, butter, cinnamon):

Vanillafits better
Raisinfits better
Coconutfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, sauce, butter, 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.

Lemon Cake228 recipes

Lemon Ice147 recipes

Lemon Sherbet103 recipes

Cinnamon Rolls71 recipes

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Ritz Cracker "Apple" Pie