Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Sliced Apple Pie
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Pare, core, and slice the apples very thin.
Line a pie plate with crust.
Assemble and bake
Add a layer of apple slices, sprinkle with sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon peel, and a small piece of butter.
Repeat with another layer of apple and seasoning.
Add 1 tablespoon of water or sweet cider.
Cover with a top crust, cutting 2-3 slits in the middle.
Bake slowly until the apples are cooked and the crust is golden.
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.
-
Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,238 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Form the bulk of the filling, softening as they bake and releasing juices that become the filling.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and draws moisture from the apples to form a syrup with the juices.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, melting into the filling to carry flavour and add a silky texture.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm aroma that pairs with the sweetness and tartness of the apples.
The step that matters
Bake slowly until the apples are cooked and the crust is golden. Thin apple slices soften quickly, but the filling must be fully tender before the crust over-browns. Checking the apples, not just the crust colour, prevents a firm or raw filling. The slits in the top crust let steam escape so the filling does not turn watery.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, butter, cider):
- Figfits better
- Pearfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, butter, cider. 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 pie recipes
You might also like
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 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.