Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Apple Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line a pie tin with pie crust.
Pare and core the apples, then cut them into eighths.
Stand the apple sections on end in the lined pie tin.
Make the syrup
In a saucepan, mix the sugar, flour, and boiling water, then cook until thickened.
Assemble and bake
Pour the syrup over the apples.
Dot the top with butter.
Sprinkle the apples with salt, nutmeg, and lemon juice.
Cover with a top crust that has been pricked with a sharp knife.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the apples are done.
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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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,790 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Sour apples
- Provide the main fruit body and tart flavor that balances the sugar.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, with the flour and water, helps form the syrup that fills the pie.
- Flour
- Thickens the boiling water and sugar into a syrup that holds the apple juices.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the apple flavor and keeps the fruit tasting fresh.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavor and promotes browning on the top crust.
The step that matters
Cook the syrup until thickened. Flour thickens only once it has been heated in liquid long enough to gelatinize its starch. If the syrup stays thin, it runs out of the pie and leaves the filling watery.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, nutmeg, lemon, butter, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, nutmeg, lemon, butter, flour. 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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