Why it works: Apple and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,774 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Mince Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the pie
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Wet the edge of the pie crust in the tin and arrange a strip around the rim.
Peel, quarter, and core the apples, then cut each quarter into three pieces.
Neatly arrange the apple pieces in the pie tin, mounding them slightly in the center.
Add the grated lemon peel, ground cloves, and sugar to the apples.
Bake and top
Bake for 30 minutes.
While the pie is baking, beat the cold cream in a bowl surrounded by ice until frothy.
Keep the whipped cream on ice until ready to serve.
Once the pie has cooled, add a mound of whipped cream on top.
Serve with a spoon instead of a fork.
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 + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Lemon + clovetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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 + 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
- Sour apples
- Supply the main filling and a tart flavour that balances the sugar.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps draw out juices from the apples as they bake.
- Cold cream
- Whipped into a light, airy topping that adds richness and a soft texture.
- Lemon peel
- Adds bright citrus aroma that lifts the flavour of the apples.
- Ground cloves
- Adds warm, spiced aroma that suits baked apples.
The step that matters
Beating the cold cream. Cream whips best when it stays very cold, because chilled fat globules firm up and trap air. If the cream warms, it becomes limp and will not hold its shape on the pie.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, clove, sugar, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Quincefits better
- Pearfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, clove, sugar, cream. 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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