Why it works: Apple and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,774 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Apple Pie
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 filling
Scald the quartered apples in boiling water for a few minutes.
Beat the apples with a spoon, adding the liquor gradually.
Mix in the lemon juice, cloves, sugar, and butter until well combined.
Assemble and bake
Prepare a pie crust and place it in a pie dish.
Fill the crust with the apple mixture, mounding it in the center.
Cover with another layer of pie crust, decorating with bars or flowers of dough.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until the crust is golden and the apples are tender.
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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Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Lemon + clovetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Apple + brandytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,291 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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 as they cook to become tender.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the tartness of the apples and citrus.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a smoother, rounder mouthfeel.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sweetness.
- Liquor
- Contributes aroma and flavor depth to the apple filling.
The step that matters
Beating the apples with the liquor added gradually. Adding liquor slowly lets the apple pieces absorb it evenly, so the filling stays cohesive and the alcohol flavor is not harsh or uneven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, brandy, clove, sugar, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Pearfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, brandy, clove, sugar, 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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