Why it works: Flour and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,341 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Baked Apple Dumplings
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Sift the baking powder, salt, and flour together.
Chop in the lard and beef drippings.
Add enough milk to make a soft paste.
Roll out the dough to half an inch thick and cut into squares.
Fill and shape
Core and peel tart, juicy apples, placing one in the center of each square.
Sprinkle the apples with a little sugar mixed with cinnamon.
Bring the corners of the square together, pinch them, and place on a buttered baking tin with the joined edges down.
Bake and serve
Bake for about 40 minutes.
When done, brush with the beaten egg and return to the oven until dry.
Serve with hard or creamy sauce.
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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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Beef + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Flour
- Forms the dough structure that encloses the apples while baking.
- Lard
- Chopped into the flour to create tenderness and a flaky, short texture.
- Beef drippings
- Adds fat and savory richness to the dough, adding tenderness and flavor.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour into a soft, workable paste.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the dough rises and lightens.
- Egg
- Brushed on at the end to give the finished crust a glossy, browned surface.
The step that matters
Pinching the dough around the apples. If the seams are not sealed firmly, filling juices can leak out during baking and the dumpling can open or dry out, so the joined edges must be pinched well and placed down.
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, beef, milk, sugar, egg):
- Cinnamonthe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Jalapenofits less well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, beef, milk, sugar, egg. 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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