Why it works: Sugar and apple are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Custard Apple Pudding--Good Sabbath Dessert
Ingredients
Directions
Make the apple base
Cook 3 medium sized apples without paring in as little water as possible.
Press the cooked apples through a sieve.
Add 2 tablespoons butter, ¼–½ cup sugar, and the yolks of 3 eggs beaten with ¼ cup sugar to the apples.
Add 1 pint of milk and ½ teaspoon of vanilla or a few drops of lemon extract.
Bake and finish
Bake in a moderate oven until creamy.
Cover with meringue of egg whites beaten with 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Dust with powdered or granulated sugar and brown delicately.
Serve cold.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | 1 medium (182g) | 95 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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.
-
Sugar + appletop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Apple + eggtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,461 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sugar and apple 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
- Eggs
- Yolks thicken the custard as it bakes, while whites form the meringue topping.
- Apples
- Provide the fruit base and body, pressed smooth to make a creamy texture.
- Milk (in the method)
- Adds liquid and richness, helping the custard set into a soft, creamy texture.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel in the custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps the meringue become stable and browned.
The step that matters
Bake until creamy, not overbaked. Egg proteins set as the custard heats; overbaking makes the eggs curdle and turn grainy and watery, so bake only until the custard is creamy and just set.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. 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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