Why it works: Apple and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,598 recipes. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓
Pine Pastry
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately brisk oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the filling
Combine apples, sugar, lemon juice, butter, and cinnamon in a saucepan over low heat, then increase heat until smooth and dry.
Cool the mixture completely before using it.
Assemble and bake
Roll out the pastry and cover the cooled apple mixture without touching it.
Trim excess pastry and use it to create decorative leaves for the top.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.
If the sides are not browned, return to the oven for a few minutes.
Cover with paper if the top is browning too much.
Serve
Serve hot.
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 + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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 bulk of the filling and the tart fruit flavour that the pie is built around.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it cook down to a smooth, thick consistency.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat to both the filling and the pastry, giving a tender texture.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the pastry that encloses the filling.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the pastry dough.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the apple flavour and balances the sweetness.
The step that matters
Cool the mixture completely before using it. Hot apple filling softens the raw pastry, making it soggy and hard to handle, and it can tear the crust when covered.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, butter, cinnamon, flour, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Blueberryfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, butter, cinnamon, flour, 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.
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