Why it works: Apple and white wine work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 372 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓
Gooseberry or Apple Trifle
Ingredients
Directions
Scald the gooseberries or apples until soft.
Pulp the fruit through a sieve to create a thick layer at the bottom of your dish.
If using apples, mix in the grated lemon rind.
Add sugar to the fruit mixture to taste.
In a separate bowl, gradually mix the milk with the rice flour, stirring continuously.
Strain the mixture into a stew-pan and heat over medium heat, stirring until it boils.
Remove from heat and let cool until half cold.
Stir in the brandy and noyeau or ratafia.
Spread the custard over the fruit layer in the dish.
Whip the cream with the egg white and sugar until frothy.
Spoon the whipped cream over the custard, creating a high mound.
Garnish with colored comfits on top.
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 + white winetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together372 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
-
Brandy + white winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together620 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Lemon + white winetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
-
Apple + brandytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,291 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, milk, brandy, cream, egg, white wine):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Apricotfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, milk, brandy, cream, egg, white wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
You might also like
The 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.
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes