Why it works: Apple and sugar 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 ↓
Panned Baked Apples
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
Wash, quarter, and core the apples.
Slice them thinly and place in a casserole or baking dish.
Bake
Sprinkle the sugar over the apples and add the water.
Cover the dish and bake for 20 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
Ensure the apples are tender but not broken.
Serve
Serve in the dish they were baked in.
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 + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Tart apples
- Provide the bulk of the dish and its tart flavour, softening into a tender fruit as they bake.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and dissolves into the juices to form a light syrup around the apples.
- Water
- Adds moisture so the covered apples steam gently and do not dry out in the oven.
The step that matters
Ensure the apples are tender but not broken. Apple pectin and cell walls soften with heat, so the fruit keeps its shape only while it is cooked just enough. Overbaking lets the cell walls collapse, turning the slices mushy and breaking them apart, while underbaking leaves them firm and starchy.
“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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