Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Stewed Apples
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and cook
Wash and prepare 1 quart of apples.
In a covered vessel, gradually bring the apples to a boil.
Add 1 teacup of sugar once boiling.
Keep a kettle of boiling water ready and add it as needed while cooking.
Boil slowly until the apples are tender but not dark or shriveled.
Serve
Serve fresh with plenty of juice.
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 + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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 texture, softening into tender pieces as they cook.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps flavour the cooking juice.
The step that matters
Boil slowly until tender. Boiling too hard or too long breaks the apples down and darkens them, so a gentle simmer keeps the pieces intact and pale while they soften.
“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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