Why it works: Cinnamon and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,514 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Royal Apple Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the apples
Select enough large apples to fill a pudding dish.
Pare and cut a thick slice from the top, saving it.
Core and scrape out the centers, leaving a thin wall.
To the scrapings, add a finely chopped apple, chopped almonds, raisins, sugar, and cinnamon.
Press the mixture into the apple shells and replace the lids.
Place the apples in a well buttered baking dish.
Bake and top
Set in a pan of hot water and bake until the apples are tender.
Beat the eggs until light colored, gradually add the scant cup of sugar, and pour over the apples.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) until the meringue is done.
Serve with cream or lemon sauce.
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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Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,514 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,781 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Apples
- Provide the main body, softening as they bake into a tender filling.
- Eggs
- Set into a light meringue topping that gives structure and browning.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and the meringue and helps the topping brown.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm, spiced aroma to the apple filling.
- Chopped almonds
- Add a crunchy texture contrasting with the soft apple.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness to the filling.
The step that matters
Set the apples in a pan of hot water. The hot water bath keeps heat gentle and even, so the apples cook through and soften without the shells splitting or the surface overcooking before the centers are tender.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, almond, raisin, egg, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cinnamon, almond, raisin, egg, 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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