Why it works: Lemon and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Apple Hedgehog, or Iced Apples
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the apples
Peel and core the apples without dividing them.
Stew the apples in a tin-lined saucepan with ½ cup sugar and 1 pint water until tender.
Carefully lift the apples onto a dish.
Core and slice the remaining apples.
Add the sliced apples to the same syrup with the lemon peel.
Boil gently until reduced to a pulp, stirring to prevent burning.
Build and ice
Cover the bottom of a dish with some apple marmalade.
Layer the whole apples on top of the marmalade.
Fill the cavities of the apples with the marmalade.
Add another layer, forming an oval shape.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Mix the egg whites with pounded sugar.
Cover the apples smoothly with the icing.
Decorate and bake
Blanch and cut the almonds into strips.
Stick the almond strips upright in the icing like hedgehog spines.
Place the dish in a 300°F (150°C) oven for a few minutes before serving.
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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Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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 + almondtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,025 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Cooking apples
- Hold their shape when whole and break down into a pulp for the marmalade.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the apples and the syrup, and sweetens the egg white icing.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks to form the icing that covers the apples.
- Sweet almonds
- Provide crunch and a contrasting texture as spines on the icing.
The step that matters
Boil gently until reduced to a pulp. Apples scorch easily on the bottom of a pan, so gentle heat and constant stirring prevent burning and give a smooth marmalade.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, sugar, egg, almond):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Raisinfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, sugar, egg, almond. 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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