Name: Apple Pudding, Baked
Ingredients: 5 medium-sized apples; 3 tablespoons flour; 2 tablespoons finely-chopped suet; 2 cups milk; 2 eggs; a little nutmeg; ¼ teaspoon salt

Why it works: Flour and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,623 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Apple Pudding, Baked

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare

Make a batter by mixing flour, salt, eggs, and milk.
Peel the apples, cut them into quarters, and remove the core.
Place the apples in a pie dish and sprinkle with suet.

Bake and serve

Pour the batter over the apples and grate nutmeg on top.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.
Serve with sugar.

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.

Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,623 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Apple + milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,104 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,790 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,685 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Flour and milk 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

Apples: Provide the fruit base and moisture that softens and flavours the pudding as it bakes.
Eggs: Set the batter into a custard-like structure as it bakes.
Flour: Thickens the milk and egg batter so it holds its body while baking.
Suet: Adds richness and fat, giving the pudding a tender, moist texture.