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 ↓
Common Apple Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and add the sugar, milk, and melted butter.
Mix and bake
Combine the wet and dry ingredients, then fold in the chopped apples.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and set.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and help it set into a firm, tender custard-like crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pudding together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown as it bakes.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the batter into a pourable mixture.
- Chopped apples
- Add moisture, tartness, and fruity flavor throughout the pudding.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and fat, contributing tenderness and flavor.
The step that matters
Bake until golden brown and set. Underbaking leaves the egg-thickened batter loose and wet in the center, while overbaking dries it out. The pudding is ready when the top is golden and the center no longer jiggles, since the eggs and flour set as they heat.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, cinnamon, egg, milk, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, cinnamon, egg, milk, butter. 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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