Why it works: Apple and sherry match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 395 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the apples
Cut the apples into quarters and remove the cores.
Butter a deep tin pan and place the apple pieces in it without overlapping.
Pour ½ cup of water over the apples and sift sugar on top.
Cook for about 15 minutes.
Make the rice
Boil the rice in milk until tender, then sweeten to taste.
Assemble and serve
Pile the sweetened rice high on a dish and arrange the apples on top.
Add ⅓ cup of sherry and a piece of butter to the juice in the pan, beating until smooth.
Pour this mixture over each piece of apple and serve hot.
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 + sherrytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together395 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Butter + milktop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together81,222 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Rice + milktop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together7,354 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Apple + milktop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,099 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Milk + sherrytop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,479 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Provide the fruit base and tender texture, softening as they cook with the water.
- Rice
- Forms the pudding's starchy body, absorbing milk as it cooks until tender.
- Milk
- Cooks into the rice, adding creaminess and richness to the pudding.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the sauce become smooth and glossy.
- Sherry
- Adds aroma and a sharp, fruity note to the pan juices.
The step that matters
Beating the pan juices with sherry and butter. Adding fat and alcohol to hot juices can separate or curdle the sauce if poured in too fast or left unbeaten. Beating steadily while adding the sherry and butter helps emulsify the mixture into a smooth sauce.
“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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