Why it works: Apple and butter match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 8,692 recipes mention both. Both carry gamma-undecalactone, which smells peach, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
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 filling
In a pan, combine the apples with 3 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of sugar; stew gently.
Boil the rice according to package instructions.
In a bowl, mix the cooked rice with egg yolks, 3 tablespoons of butter, 6 tablespoons of sugar, and salt.
Assemble and bake
Butter a mold and layer 1 inch of the rice mixture, followed by a layer of apples; repeat until the mold is full.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.
Serve
Serve with thick custard.
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 + buttertop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together8,692 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
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Butter + ricetop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,587 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
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Apple + ricetop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,299 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
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Butter + eggtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together118,511 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Apple + sugartop 9% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together16,440 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 16,440 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
- Stewed with butter and sugar, they provide moisture and fruity sweetness that contrasts the rice.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, carrying flavor and giving the pudding a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps the apples caramelize slightly while stewing.
- Rice
- Forms the bulk of the pudding, setting into a soft, creamy body when baked.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the rice mixture and help it set into a custard-like texture in the oven.
The step that matters
Layering the rice and apples. Packing each layer evenly keeps the pudding from having air pockets or uneven moisture, so it slices cleanly and bakes at a uniform rate.
“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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