Why it works: Apple and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,501 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Apple Float in Custard
Ingredients
Directions
Peel and core the apples, then slice them.
Prepare the custard by mixing eggs, sugar, and milk in a saucepan.
Cook the custard over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
Add vanilla extract to the custard and mix well.
Layer the sliced apples in a serving dish and pour the custard over them.
Chill in the refrigerator before serving.
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 + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,501 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vanilla):
- Figfits better
- Blueberryfits better
- Peachfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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