Why it works: Apple and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,790 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
A Series of New and Cheap Drinks
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cider
Put a gallon of water on to boil, cut up one pound of apples into quarters, put them in the water, and boil until they can be pulped.
Pass the liquor through a colander.
Boil the liquid again with half a pound of brown sugar, skim, and bottle, taking care not to cork the bottle.
Store and finish
Keep the bottled drink in a cool place.
Take a piece of bread, slowly toast until it gets quite black.
Add the toasted bread to the drink, making a refreshing drink for invalids.
Alternative method
Another way: make the apples first, then put them in a gallon of water with the sugar, pour boiling water over, let it get cold, pass the liquor as above, and bottle.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Apple | 1 medium (182g) | 95 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | 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.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Apple + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,790 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + breadtop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,638 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Apples
- Provide the main flavour and the pulp that gives the drink its body.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and a deeper, molasses-like flavour to the drink.
- Bread
- Toasted until very dark, it adds a roasted, slightly bitter aroma and colour.
The step that matters
Toasting the bread until quite black. Toasting bread past golden browning creates bitter, charred compounds, so it should be watched closely to add roasted flavour without turning the drink acrid.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, bread):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Datesfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, bread. 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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