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Dessert

Apple Cup

A custard dessert with apples, baked in cups.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and apple are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,104 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓

Apple Cup

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the custard base

  1. Heat 2 pints of milk in a saucepan over medium heat.

  2. Moisten 3 tablespoons of flour with a little cold milk, then stir it into the hot milk until smooth and thick.

  3. Remove from heat and add the beaten yolks of 4 eggs.

Add apples and eggs

  1. Beat the whites of 4 eggs to a stiff froth and gently fold them into the mixture.

  2. Add the chopped sour apples.

Bake and serve

  1. Fill greased custard cups with the batter.

  2. Place the cups in a pan of boiling water and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 15 to 20 minutes.

  3. Serve hot with hard or foam sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + appletop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,104 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  2. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + saucetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,078 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, setting into a soft, creamy texture when heated.
Flour
Thickens the hot milk into a smooth base that holds the batter together.
Egg yolks
Enrich the custard and help it set into a tender, smooth texture.
Egg whites
Whipped to a stiff froth, they lighten the batter and help it rise in the oven.
Apples
Add tart fruit flavour and moisture to the custard.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Beaten whites trap air that gives lightness. Stirring them in vigorously deflates the foam, so fold gently to keep the custard light.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, egg, sauce):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, egg, sauce. 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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