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Dessert

Apple Meringue Pie

A pie with stewed apples topped with meringue.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,501 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Apple Meringue Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the filling

  1. Pare, slice, and stew the apples until soft.

  2. Sweeten to taste and mash them, adding nutmeg for flavor.

Make the crust and meringue

  1. Prepare the pie crust and bake it until golden.

  2. Whip the egg whites until frothy.

  3. Gradually add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract.

  4. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Assemble and bake

  1. Spread the meringue over the apples, about ¾ inch thick.

  2. Return the pie to a 400°F (200°C) oven until the meringue is set and lightly browned.

Serve

  1. Let the pie cool and serve cold.

  2. You can substitute peaches for apples when in season.

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. Apple + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,501 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Nutmeg + vanillatop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,790 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Ripe, tart apples
Provide the main fruit filling, with tartness balancing the sweet meringue.
3 egg whites
Whipped into foam that sets into a light, stable meringue topping.
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Sweetens the meringue and helps stabilize the whipped egg white foam.
Pie crust
Forms the base that holds the apple filling and meringue.

The step that matters

Beat until stiff peaks form. Underbeaten whites stay runny and may weep, while overbeaten whites turn dry and grainy. Stiff peaks hold their shape and bake into a stable meringue.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (nutmeg, egg, sugar, vanilla):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Blueberryfits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against nutmeg, egg, sugar, vanilla. 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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