Why it works: Apple and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,774 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Apple Custard
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Cook the apples
In a stew pan, combine the chopped apples, water, sugar, and clove.
Cook over medium heat until the apples are soft.
Remove the clove and transfer the apples to a greased pie dish.
Assemble and bake
Pour the prepared custard over the apples.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) until set.
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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Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Clove + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,045 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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
- Apples
- Provide the main body and fruity flavor, and soften into a tender base under the custard.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the apples.
- Custard
- Sets in the oven to form a creamy, smooth layer over the apples.
- Clove
- Adds a warm, spicy aroma to the cooked apples.
The step that matters
Bake until just set. Custard is egg-based, and its proteins set at moderate heat. Overbaking tightens them too far, causing the custard to weep liquid and turn grainy.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, butter):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Gingerfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, butter. 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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