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 moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Line a pie pan with pastry and fill it with sliced tart apples.
Sprinkle the apples with ½ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon flour, mixing well.
Add 2 tablespoons of water and dot with 2 tablespoons of butter.
Dust with cinnamon to taste.
Assemble and bake
Wet the edge of the lower crust, place on the upper crust, and press them together.
Trim the edge, fold, and crimp it.
Make an opening in the upper crust to allow steam to escape.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 45 minutes.
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.
-
Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
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
- Tart apples
- Provide the main filling, softening as they bake and giving the pie its bulk and tartness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps draw out juices that form the syrup.
- Flour
- Thickens the juices released by the apples so the filling sets rather than running.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavor and gives a rounded, buttery taste.
- Pastry
- Forms the crust that encloses the filling and browns during baking.
The step that matters
Make an opening in the upper crust. The opening lets steam escape while the pie bakes. Without it, trapped steam can build pressure, lifting or soaking the top crust and leaving the filling watery.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon. 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.
More apple pie recipes
You might also like
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Apple Cake80 recipes
Apple Meringue75 recipes
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.