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Potato Apples

Potato apples are small apple-shaped fritters made from hot riced potatoes, butter, cheese, and spices, then fried and served.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Potato Apples

Ingredients

Directions

Make and shape

  1. Mix the ingredients in the order given and beat thoroughly.

  2. Shape the mixture into small apple forms.

Coat and fry

  1. Roll each apple in flour, then dip in beaten eggs, and coat with crumbs.

  2. Fry in deep fat until golden brown. Drain on brown paper.

Finish

  1. Insert a clove at both the stem and blossom end of each apple.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Riced potatoes
Provides the bulk and body that let the mixture hold its apple shape.
Egg yolks
Bind the mixture together and add richness.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
Thick cream
Adds moisture and softness to the mixture.
Grated cheese
Adds savory flavor and some richness.

The step that matters

Frying in deep fat until golden brown. The fat must be hot enough to set and brown the crumb coating quickly; if it is too cool, the fritters soak up grease and turn heavy, while too much heat browns the outside before the inside is heated through.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cheese, pepper, nutmeg, cream, egg):

  1. Spinachfits about as well
  2. Potatothe original
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cheese, pepper, nutmeg, cream, egg. 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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