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Dessert

Apple Meringue

A baked apple and raisin mixture topped with meringue, served cold.

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 raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,920 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Apple Meringue

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the filling

  1. Stew the apples and pass them through a fine sieve.

  2. Add the raisins, candied peel, and sugar to taste.

  3. Transfer the mixture into a buttered pie dish and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 30 minutes, keeping it covered.

Make the meringue and finish

  1. Beat the egg whites until very stiff, then mix in sugar and lemon juice.

  2. Spread the meringue on top in heaps and return to the oven until set and lightly browned.

  3. Serve cold with cream or custard.

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 + raisintop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,920 recipes

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

  2. Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

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

  3. Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,551 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,742 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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, which softens and thickens when stewed and sieved.
Eggs
Whites whipped into a stiff foam form the meringue topping, which sets and browns in the oven.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and the meringue, and helps the whites hold their stiff structure.
Lemons
Lemon juice adds acidity that brightens the sweet filling and the meringue.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture to the filling.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites until very stiff. Whites must be whipped until they hold firm peaks so the meringue keeps its shape and sets properly. Underwhipped whites weep or slump, and any trace of fat or yolk in the bowl can stop them whipping fully.

Swap the apple

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

  1. Orangefits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar, 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.

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