Why it works: Syrup and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Buttered Apples
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apples
Pare and core the apples.
Stew the apples in thin syrup.
Make a mash or marmalade of any leftover apples.
Assemble and bake
Cover the dish with a thin layer of the marmalade.
Place the apples on top with a bit of butter in the center of each.
Fill any gaps with the remaining marmalade.
Glaze with sifted sugar and bake until 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.
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Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Syrup + buttertop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,796 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pippins or rennets
- Firm-fleshed apples that hold their shape and provide the main body of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and helps the surface brown as it bakes.
- Sifted sugar
- Forms a sweet glaze on the top that caramelises to a golden colour in the oven.
- Thin syrup
- Sweetens and moistens the apples as they stew, keeping them tender.
The step that matters
Glaze with sifted sugar and bake until golden. Sugar browns quickly in a hot oven, so the top can scorch before the apples are fully tender. Watch the colour and stop baking once it turns golden.
“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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