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 ↓
Apple Custard
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.
Make the custard
Stew the apples until tender.
Run the cooked apples through a sieve.
Add a pinch of salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon to the apple puree.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1 cup of sugar.
Combine the apple mixture with the egg yolk mixture and stir in the butter.
Top and bake
Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Gradually add 3 tablespoons of sugar until stiff peaks form.
Spread the meringue over the custard.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
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).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,790 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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
- Provide the main body and flavour of the custard as a sieved puree.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard and add richness as they set with gentle heat.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a meringue that forms a light, golden topping on the custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps the whipped whites hold their stiff peaks.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture in the custard.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whites under-whipped stay runny and weep under the topping, while over-whipped whites turn dry and grainy. Adding sugar gradually stabilises the foam so the meringue holds its shape while baking.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, nutmeg, sugar, cinnamon, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, nutmeg, sugar, cinnamon, 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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