Why it works: Apple and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,551 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Apple Tart, Plain
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Line the edge of a tart dish with short crust pastry.
Fill it with the prepared apples.
Assemble and bake
Sprinkle lemon juice and sugar over the apples.
Add a little water if the apples are not juicy.
Cover with pastry.
Bake in a good oven at 350°F (175°C) for nearly an hour.
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 + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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 bulk of the filling and, as they cook, soften and release flavour and juice.
- Short crust pastry
- Forms the crisp, buttery case and top that hold the filling in place.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps draw juice from the apples, which thickens into a syrup.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the apple flavour and helps keep the apples from browning.
The step that matters
Adding water only when needed. Apples vary in juiciness. Too much added water thins the juices and can leave the filling soupy, while too little can leave the base dry. Check the apples before adding any water.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar):
- Pearfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar. 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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