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 ↓
An Apple Meringue
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.
Prepare the apples
Pare, quarter, and remove the cores from the apples.
Stew the apples in an enamelled saucepan with sugar and cinnamon until tender, keeping the quarters whole.
Transfer the cooked apples to a pudding dish without breaking them.
Make the meringue
In a bowl, beat the egg whites to a firm froth, then gradually add the sugar and lemon flavor.
Spread the meringue over the apples in the dish.
Bake and serve
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until the surface is well browned.
Serve hot for dessert, or let it cool and enjoy with cream.
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).
-
Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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 fruit base, becoming tender and sweet-tart when stewed with sugar.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a foam that forms the light, set meringue topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the apples and, whipped with the egg whites, stabilizes the meringue.
- Lemon
- Adds aroma and brightness that balances the sweetness of the meringue.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to a firm froth. Egg whites must be whipped to a stiff, stable foam before the sugar is added gradually; under-whipped or greasy whites will not hold air, so the meringue will not rise or set properly while baking.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, egg, lemon):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Raisinfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cinnamon, egg, lemon. 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 meringue recipes
You might also like
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 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.