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Dessert

Apple Fritters

Apple fritters are fried apple slices coated in batter, served with wine and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Brandy and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,427 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓

Apple Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare the batter as directed in the previous recipe.

  2. Slice the apples into ¼ inch thick rounds.

  3. Dip the apple slices into the brandy.

Fry and serve

  1. Roll the brandy‑coated apples in the batter.

  2. Fry the battered apples in hot lard until light brown.

  3. Serve with wine and sugar.

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. Brandy + winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,427 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  2. Apple + winetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,207 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Brandy + appletop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,291 recipes

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

  4. Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together16,478 recipes

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

  5. Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 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

Apples
Provide the fruit body that softens while the batter crisps around it.
Batter
Forms a crisp, golden coating that seals in moisture during frying.
Brandy
Adds aroma and flavour to the apple slices before they are coated.
Lard
Conducts heat for frying and gives the coating its browning and richness.

The step that matters

Frying the battered apples in hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the batter absorbs fat and turns greasy before it browns. Frying at the right heat sets the coating quickly, so the apple cooks through while the outside stays crisp and light brown.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, sugar, wine):

  1. Vanillafits about as well
  2. Apricotfits about as well
  3. Applethe original
  4. Grapefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, sugar, wine. 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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