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 Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the apples
Cut sour apples into quarters, peel, core, and slice them.
Place the apple slices evenly in a pie plate, piling a little in the center.
Cover the apples with ½ cup of sugar and season with ½ teaspoon of cinnamon or grated nutmeg and 1 teaspoon of butter.
If the apples have lost their flavor, season with lemon juice and a little grated lemon rind.
Assemble and bake
Cut slits in the upper crust for steam to escape, dampen the edges of both the upper and lower crust, and press them together.
Place a ½ inch strip of pastry around the edge, moistening it before applying so it will cling.
Bake for about 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C), checking the apples for doneness with a straw or fork.
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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Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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
- Sour apples
- Provide the main filling and tart flavor that balances the sugar.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and draws out juice as the apples cook.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat to the filling.
- Pie crust
- Forms the structure that encloses the filling and browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Checking the apples for doneness. Apple slices must be fully tender when the crust is golden, since undercooked apples stay firm and crunchy. Testing with a straw or fork confirms the fruit has softened throughout before the pie is taken out.
Swap the lemon
The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, cinnamon, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Pearfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, cinnamon, butter. 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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