Name: Apple Tart
Ingredients: 3-4 quick-cooking tart apples; 1 tablespoon water; 1 cup thin cream; ½ cup yeast; 2 cups flour; additional flour as needed

Why it works: Cream and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,481 recipes. Both carry acetaldehyde, which smells pungent, ethereal. The science ↓

Apple Tart

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dough

Pare and slice the apples, placing them in a pudding dish with the water.
Stir the yeast into the cream, then mix in 2 cups of flour until soft.
Knead the dough for 15-20 minutes, then roll it out to cover the apples.

Rise and bake

Let the covered dish rise in a warm place until the crust is light.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.

Serve

Serve cold with cream and sugar, coconut sauce, or mock cream.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,481 recipes

Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Apple + flourtop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,140 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Apple + creamtop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,089 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Yeast: Leavens the dough so the crust rises and becomes light before baking.
Flour: Forms the dough structure that holds the crust together over the apples.
Thin cream: Adds moisture and richness to the dough, making it soft and tender.
Tart apples: Provide the fruit filling, with acidity that balances sweetness.