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 ↓
Baked Apple Dumplings
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in sugar and milk to form a dough.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface.
Cut into squares large enough to wrap around each apple.
Fill and bake
Place an apple in the center of each square.
Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar inside each apple.
Wrap the dough around the apples and seal well.
Place in a greased baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden.
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 + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the dough that encloses the apples.
- Butter
- Cut into the flour to create a tender, flaky texture as it melts.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the dough rises and stays light.
- Apples
- Soften as they bake, providing moisture and fruity flavor inside the dough.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the dough and filling brown as they bake.
The step that matters
Sealing the dough around the apples. If the seams are not sealed well, filling juices can leak out during baking and the dough may open or bake unevenly. A tight seal keeps the steam and juices inside the apple.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, milk, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, milk, cinnamon. 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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