Why it works: Apple and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,207 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
A Very Nice Apple Pie, or Tart
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Poach the apples
Combine sugar, lemon, mace, and water in a saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Carefully add the apples and simmer until tender.
Remove the apples and set aside, keeping them whole.
Boil the liquid until only a small amount of juice remains.
Assemble and bake
Line a pie plate with puff pastry and arrange the apples inside.
Add wine to the remaining juice and pour it over the apples.
Brush the pastry and apples with egg white and sprinkle with fine sugar.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until the crust is 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 + winetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,207 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Lemon + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,157 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + macetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together865 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
- Greening apples
- Hold their shape when poached and form the pie's main filling.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the poaching syrup and adds body to the reduced juice.
- Puff pastry
- Forms the crust, rising and browning in the oven around the apples.
- Egg white
- Brushed on the pastry to promote browning and a glossy finish.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweet syrup and balances the apples.
The step that matters
Boil the liquid until only a small amount of juice remains. Reducing the syrup concentrates its sugar and flavour. If it is too thin, the juice will run out of the pie and soften the pastry.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, lemon, wine, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, lemon, wine, egg. 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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