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 ↓
Apple Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the pie
Line a pie plate with pastry and fill it with the prepared apples, mounding them above the edge.
If preferred, sprinkle ¾ cup sugar over the apples before baking, then cover with remaining apples and crust.
Make the syrup
In a saucepan, boil ¾ cup sugar with ¼ cup water for 5 minutes.
Bake and finish
Cover with more pastry and bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 30 minutes, until the apples are soft.
Pour the hot syrup through the holes in the crust, tilting the pie to ensure it seeps through evenly.
Wring out a strip of cotton in cold water and bind the edge of the pie with it, removing it immediately after baking to avoid marks.
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 + 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
- Apples
- Provide the bulk of the filling, softening during baking to form the pie's body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, dissolved in the syrup, moistens the apples after baking.
- Pastry
- Forms the structural crust that holds the filling and contains its juices.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot syrup through the crust. Pouring hot syrup into a baked pie lets it seep evenly among the apples; tilting spreads it so pockets of dry or soggy filling are avoided.
“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
Dried Apple Cake51 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.