Name: Boiled Apples— Spiced
Ingredients: 20 cooking apples; 2 cups sugar; ½ cup vinegar; 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; water

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 ↓

Boiled Apples— Spiced

Ingredients

Directions

Wipe the apples clean and place them in a preserving kettle.
Add enough water to cover the apples halfway.
Stir in the sugar, vinegar, and ground cinnamon.
Cover the kettle and simmer over low heat until the apples are soft.

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.

Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,598 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple + vinegartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,884 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together16,478 recipes

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

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

Cooking apples: Provide the main bulk and pectin that soften into a spoonable texture as they cook.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps balance the tartness of the apples.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the apples.
Ground cinnamon: Adds warm aroma and spice to the apples.