Why it works: Apple and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,230 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Snow Balls
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Pare and core the apples, filling the holes with marmalade.
Make a paste using flour and water, then roll it out.
Wrap the apples in the paste, ensuring an even thickness.
Bake
Place the wrapped apples in a tin dripping pan and bake until tender.
Remove from the oven and prepare icing about ¼ inch thick.
Ice and serve
Let the icing set at a distance from the fire until hardened, but do not let it brown.
Arrange one apple in the center of a dish and place the others around it.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + orangetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Baking apples
- Soften during baking to become tender and sweet, forming the filling of the dish.
- Orange or quince marmalade
- Adds sweetness and a fragrant, tangy flavor inside each apple.
- Flour
- Forms the paste that wraps and holds the apples together while they bake.
- Egg white
- Brushed on as a wash, it helps the outer covering set and give a glossy finish.
- Sugar
- Dusted on the surface, it adds sweetness and a light, sweet coating.
The step that matters
Setting the icing without browning. Sugar-based icing can turn brown and bitter when exposed to too much direct heat. Setting it at a distance from the fire lets it harden slowly and keep its white color.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, flour, sugar, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Pearfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, flour, sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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 snow balls recipes
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 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.