Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Apple Pie
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 filling
Peel, core, and slice the apples to half-fill a pie dish.
Add sugar and water to the apples.
Layer the remaining apples on top.
Assemble and bake
Place a strip of pastry around the edge of the dish.
Dampen the pastry edge, then cover with a lid of pastry.
Press the edges together and mark neatly.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until the pastry is brown and the fruit is cooked, about 30 minutes.
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 + 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
- Apples
- Provide the bulk of the filling and, once cooked, the soft, sweet fruit texture.
- Pastry
- Forms the structure around the filling and browns in the oven to create a crisp crust.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps draw juice from the apples as they cook.
- Water
- Adds moisture to the filling so the apples can soften while baking.
The step that matters
Dampen the pastry edge before sealing the lid. Water helps the top and bottom pastry bond so the seal holds and juices do not leak out during baking.
“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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