Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Apple Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apples
Wipe and cut tart apples into eighths, removing the cores and skins.
Adjust the sugar based on the acidity of the apples, using 2 tablespoons or more per apple.
If the apples are not juicy, add ½ to 1 tablespoon of water based on the apple size.
Flavor the apples with lemon juice, cinnamon, or nutmeg if desired.
Bake
Cover the apples with bits of butter.
Bake until the apples are soft and the crust is brown.
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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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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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
- Tart apples
- Provide the main filling, whose acidity balances the sweetness and whose flesh softens when baked.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the tartness of the apples.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the top crust brown as it bakes.
- Water
- Adds juice to moisten the filling when the apples are dry.
The step that matters
Adjust the sugar to the apples' acidity. Tart apples vary in acidity, and sugar balances that tartness. Too little leaves the filling sour, while too much makes it cloying and can draw out excess liquid as it cooks.
Swap the lemon
The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Pearfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, 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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