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Dessert

Gratin of Apples Onion and Gruyère

A tart with sautéed onions, apples, and Gruyère cheese baked in a pastry shell.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Gratin of Apples Onion and Gruyère

Oven400°F, then 350°F
Time15 minutes, then 5 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the crust

  1. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl.

  2. Add butter and process until butter is finely distributed.

  3. Add water and egg yolk, then process until dough forms a ball.

  4. Heat oven to 400°F.

  5. Divide dough into 4 pieces on lightly floured surface.

  6. Roll out each piece to a 5-inch round.

  7. Fit each round into a 4-inch tart pan.

  8. Bake for 15 minutes.

  9. Reduce temperature to 350°F.

Make the filling

  1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet.

  2. Add onions and sauté 10 minutes covered, stirring occasionally.

  3. Set aside.

  4. Melt remaining butter.

  5. Add all apple slices and sauté until tender and golden.

Assemble and bake

  1. Fill each shell with sautéed onions.

  2. Top with apple slices arranged in a fan pattern, alternating two wine sap slices among the Granny Smith apples in each tart.

  3. Cover apple fans with cheese.

  4. Bake for 5 minutes.

  5. Garnish tarts with chopped chives.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

962Calories
28 gProtein
28 gFat
144 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Apple1 medium (182g)95
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Chives1 tbsp (3g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Apple + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together294 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Apple + winetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,207 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  4. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Flour
Forms the structure of the tart crust once mixed with butter and water.
Butter
Adds fat that makes the crust tender and flaky and enriches the onions and apples.
Egg yolk
Adds richness and binds the dough together.
Yellow onion
Becomes soft and sweet when slowly sautéed, forming the savory base of the filling.
Apples
Soften and turn golden when sautéed, adding sweetness and a tender texture to the tart.
Gruyère cheese
Melts over the apples, adding savory flavor and a rich, browned topping.

The step that matters

Bake the crust fully before filling. Blind-baking the dough sets its structure and dries the surface, so the shell stays crisp rather than soggy under the moist onion and apple filling.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, egg, apple, wine, cheese):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Sweet potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, butter, egg, apple, wine, cheese. 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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