Why it works: Apple and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,790 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Apple Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Make short pastry and roll it out to about ¼ inch thick.
Wet a pudding cloth and place it in a sieve.
Put the rolled pastry in the cloth and add the quartered apples.
Wet the inside of the pastry and gather it to seal.
Boil and serve
Tie the cloth tightly and boil in water, keeping it boiling.
Once cooked, remove from water and turn out of the cloth.
Cut a round piece off the top, add butter, sugar, and grated nutmeg.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,790 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
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
- Short pastry
- Forms the outer case that holds the apples and steam while boiling.
- Apples
- Provide the main filling, softening as they cook and adding moisture and tartness.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat to the cooked apples.
- Moist sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps flavour the apples.
The step that matters
Keeping the water boiling. If the water stops boiling, the pudding cools and cooks unevenly, and the pastry can turn heavy and soggy. Steady boiling keeps the heat constant so the apples and pastry cook through.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, butter, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
- Clovefits about as well
- Gingerfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, butter, sugar. 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.
More apple pudding recipes
You might also like
Apple Cake80 recipes
Apple Meringue75 recipes
Dried Apple Cake51 recipes
Apple Tart24 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.