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Potato Apples

Fried potato dumplings shaped like apples, coated in breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Potato Apples

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. In a bowl, combine hot riced potatoes, butter, grated cheese, salt, cayenne, nutmeg, thick cream, and egg yolks.

  2. Mix the ingredients thoroughly until well combined.

  3. Shape the mixture into small apple-like forms.

Coat and fry

  1. Roll each apple in flour, dip in beaten egg, and coat with bread crumbs.

  2. Fry in deep fat until golden brown, then drain on brown paper.

Finish

  1. Insert a clove into both the stem and blossom end of each apple.

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.

  1. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Riced potatoes
Form the bulk of the soft, moist body that holds the apple shape.
Egg yolks
Bind the mixture so it holds together when shaped and fried.
Grated cheese
Adds savoury flavour and richness, and helps the crust brown as it fries.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a tender, smooth texture.
Thick cream
Adds moisture and richness to keep the potato mixture soft.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp golden coating when fried in deep fat.

The step that matters

Shaping and coating before frying. The mixture is soft, so it needs to be shaped firmly and coated evenly with flour, egg and crumbs. Any bare spots can let the apples break open or absorb fat during frying.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cheese, pepper, nutmeg, cream, egg, flour):

  1. Spinachfits about as well
  2. Chivefits about as well
  3. Potatothe original
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cheese, pepper, nutmeg, cream, egg, flour. 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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