Why it works: Apple and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,706 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Apple-sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare and core the apples, then cut them into pieces.
Place the apples in a saucepan with a little water.
Cook and finish
Stew the apples until they are soft and reduced to a pulp.
If too moist, pour off excess water.
Beat in a small piece of butter until well combined.
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 + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Good baking apples
- Break down into a pulp to form the sauce's body and flavour.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smoother, glossier texture when beaten in.
The step that matters
Stewing until soft and pulpy. Apples must be cooked fully so their cell walls break down; undercooked pieces stay firm and the sauce turns grainy and uneven.
“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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