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 Apples
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the apples
Wash the apples and remove the stem, blossom ends, and cores.
Make a cut through the skin around the center of each apple.
Arrange the apples close together in a baking pan.
Fill the cavity of each apple with sugar, butter, and cinnamon.
Bake and serve
Cover the bottom of the pan with boiling water.
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C), basting every 10 minutes, until tender.
If the water cooks away, add more as needed.
Serve hot or cold with the juice poured over the apples.
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).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,784 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 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
- Tart apples
- Provide the firm, tart flesh that holds its shape and softens while baking.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the juices caramelize slightly in the cavity.
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the flavor and helps the filling become glossy and rich.
- Ground cinnamon
- Adds warm aroma that complements the apple flavor.
The step that matters
Keep the water in the pan topped up while baking. Boiling water in the pan creates steam and keeps the apples moist; if the pan runs dry, the apples can scorch and dry out before they become tender.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, cinnamon. 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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