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Dessert

German Apple Cake

A baked apple cake with a crumbly dough, topped with butter, sugar, and cinnamon or nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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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 ↓

German Apple Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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.

Prepare the dough

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

  3. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

  4. Stir in the beaten egg and milk until well combined.

  5. Grease a large shallow pan and spread the dough to ½ inch thick.

Top and bake

  1. Pare and core the apples, then cut them into eighths.

  2. Press the apple slices into the dough in close, even rows.

  3. Spread with butter and sprinkle thickly with sugar and cinnamon or nutmeg.

  4. Bake for 30 minutes.

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.

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 + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,598 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Butter
Rubbed into the flour for a tender crumb, and spread on top for richness and browning.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes light.
Egg
Binds the dough and adds structure and richness.
Milk
Adds moisture and hydrates the flour to form a soft dough.
Apples
Add moisture and tartness that contrast with the sweet topping.

The step that matters

Spreading the dough to ½ inch thick. Dough spread too thin bakes dry and crisp, while dough spread too thick may stay raw in the centre. An even layer lets the cake bake uniformly under the apples.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, egg, milk, sugar, cinnamon):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, egg, milk, sugar, 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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