Why it works: Apple and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,706 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Apple Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Stew and strain the apples until smooth.
Make and bake the pudding
In a bowl, mix the stewed apples, sugar, and butter until well combined.
Add the eggs, mixing in the yolks and reserving the whites for later.
Pour the mixture into a prepared pie crust.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until set.
Finish with meringue
Whip the reserved egg whites until stiff peaks form and spread over the pudding.
Return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes to brown the meringue.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 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 bulk and fruity flavour, and moisture that keeps the filling soft.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the custard-like filling set smoothly.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender texture to the filling.
- Eggs
- Set the filling as they cook and give it structure and richness.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that forms the meringue topping, which browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake until set, then brown the meringue. Eggs set as they cook, so underbaking leaves the filling runny, while overbaking can make it weep or toughen. Watch for a firm centre before adding the meringue, and brown it only briefly so the topping does not overcook.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, 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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