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Dessert

Apple Meringue

A pie with stewed apples topped with meringue.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Apple Meringue

Why it works: Apple and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,790 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

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 filling

  1. Pare the apples.

  2. Slice the apples.

  3. Stew the apples until soft.

  4. Mash the apples smooth.

  5. Sweeten to taste with sugar.

  6. Season with nutmeg or lemon peel.

  7. Fill a deep pie plate with the apple mixture.

Bake and top

  1. Bake at 350°F (175°C) until the crust is done.

  2. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks.

  3. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar for each egg white.

  4. Spread the meringue over the pie, about three-fourths of an inch thick.

  5. Return the pie to the oven for 3-4 minutes to brown the meringue.

  6. Serve cold.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,790 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together16,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Nutmeg + sugartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together23,364 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Nutmeg and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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

Ripe, juicy apples
Forms the bulk of the filling, adding moisture and tartness that balances the sweet meringue.
Egg whites
Whipped into a foam that sets into a light, airy meringue topping.
Sugar
Sweetens the apples and helps stabilize the whipped whites into a glossy meringue.
Nutmeg or lemon peel
Adds aroma and a bright flavor note to the apple filling.
Pie crust
Holds the filling in a shaped case while it bakes.

The step that matters

Browning the meringue. Sugar in the meringue browns quickly at oven heat, so the 3-4 minute finish needs close watching. Too long and the peaks can scorch before the foam dries.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (nutmeg, egg, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against nutmeg, egg, sugar. 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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