Why it works: Apple and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,598 recipes mention both. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓
Apple Soup, No. L.j
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Cook the apples in a little water until soft and mushy.
Mix cornstarch with a small amount of water to dissolve, then add to the apple mixture.
Stir in sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
Serve
Serve warm or cold.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,779 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Break down into soft pulp that forms the body of the soup.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the liquid as it heats, giving the soup a smoother body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the tartness of the apples.
The step that matters
Adding the cornstarch mixture. Cornstarch must be fully dissolved in cold water before it goes in, otherwise it clumps. It thickens only when the mixture is hot enough to gelatinize its starch, so the soup should be stirred and kept at a simmer briefly after it is added.
“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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