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 ↓
Baked Apple Charlotte
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.
Prepare the dish
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Butter a pudding dish and cover the bottom with fine bread crumbs.
Layer the charlotte
Layer half of the chopped apples in the dish, sprinkle with ½ cup sugar and cinnamon.
Add another layer of crumbs, then the remaining apples, and repeat the sugar and cinnamon.
Finish with a top layer of crumbs.
Mix ½ cup water with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon brandy, then pour over the top layer.
Cover with crumbs and invert a deep plate over it.
Bake and serve
Bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncover and brown the top.
Serve with sweet 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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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Apple + brandytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,291 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Apple + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,790 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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
- Tart apples
- Provide the main bulk, moisture and tartness that balances the sweetness.
- Fine bread crumbs
- Form the layers that soak up apple juices and hold the dish together with structure.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown during the final uncovered baking.
The step that matters
Bake covered, then uncover to brown. The covered bake traps steam so the apples soften through and the crumbs become moist. Uncovering lets the surface dry out, which allows browning. Uncovering too early can leave the apples underdone; leaving the cover on too long can leave the top pale.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sugar, cinnamon, brandy, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Applethe original
- Raisinfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sugar, cinnamon, brandy, 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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