Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Scalloped Apples
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.
Layer the dish
Butter a baking dish and spread one quarter of the crumbs on the bottom.
Add half of the chopped apples and sprinkle with the mixed sugar and spices.
Repeat with another quarter of the crumbs, the remaining apples, and the remaining sugar, then add the lemon rind, lemon juice, and water.
Top with the remaining crumbs.
Bake and serve
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the apples are soft, covering during the first part of baking.
Serve hot with cream or a pudding sauce.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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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
- Apples
- Soften as they bake and form the moist, tender filling of the dish.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the apple juices caramelize slightly as they cook.
- Buttered crumbs
- Form the layers and soak up apple juices, giving a soft filling with a browned top.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sweetness of the sugar.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm aroma that complements the cooked apples.
- Nutmeg
- Adds warm, aromatic spice that deepens the apple flavor.
The step that matters
Covering the dish during the first part of baking. Covering traps steam so the apples soften through before the crumbs over the top brown. Uncovered from the start, the top can darken while the apples stay firm.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon):
- Orangefits better
- Limefits better
- Raisinfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon. 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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