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 ↓
Baked Apples
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Wash and core the sour apples.
Place them in an earthen or granite dish.
Fill the center of each apple with sugar.
Measure 1 tablespoon of water for each apple and pour it around the apples, avoiding the sugar.
Bake and serve
Bake until tender.
Remove the apples to the serving dish.
Strain the juice, add ⅓ cup of sugar, and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour the syrup over the apples, let cool, and serve with cream.
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.
-
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
- Sour apples
- Provide the fruit that softens during baking and holds its shape while giving tart flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the apples and, cooked into syrup, adds body and sweetness to the juice.
- Water
- Creates steam and a little juice in the dish so the apples bake moist rather than drying out.
The step that matters
Bake until tender. Apples that are underbaked stay firm and starchy, while overbaked apples collapse. Pieces of fruit cooked gently in moist heat soften evenly when the oven and dish keep the water from boiling away.
“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 baked apples recipes
You might also like
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Apple Cake80 recipes
Apple Meringue75 recipes
Dried Apple Cake51 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.