Name: Caramel-Apple Tartlets with Cinnamon-Rum Ice Cream
Yield: Makes 6 tartlets
Ingredients: 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature; 1/4 cup sugar; 1 large egg; 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 2/3 cup sugar; 1/4 cup water; 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel or other fine sea salt; 6 tablespoons all purpose flour; 6 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/3 cup pecans,; 3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes; 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar; 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch; 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter; 2 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 3/4-inch pieces; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon whiskey; 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; Special equipment: Six 4 1/2-inch tartlet pans with removable bottom

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 ↓

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.

Apple + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,501 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Pecans + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,691 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, flour, cream, pecans, vanilla):

Coconutfits better
Figfits better
Raisinfits better
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, flour, cream, pecans, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Pecan	1 half (4g)	20
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Whiskey	not in our table	0

Caramel-Apple Tartlets with Cinnamon-Rum Ice Cream