Why it works: Apple and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,598 recipes. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓
Apple Charlotte
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the apple marmalade
Combine apples, sugar, clarified butter, lemon peel, cinnamon stick, and water in a stew-pan.
Cover and boil over high heat until the apples are melted.
Remove the lid and stir the mixture over medium heat until it thickens into a stiff marmalade.
Line and fill the mold
Line a round charlotte mold with overlapping circular pieces of bread dipped in clarified butter.
Cut oblong squares of bread, dip in clarified butter, and place them against the sides of the mold.
Fill the mold with the apple marmalade and cover with a circular piece of bread dipped in butter.
Bake and serve
Place the mold on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
Turn the charlotte out onto a dish, glaze the top with sifted sugar, and pour diluted fruit jam around the base 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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Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Apple + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,790 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Break down into the soft, thick marmalade that forms the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it thicken into a stiff marmalade as it cooks.
- Clarified butter
- Coats the bread so it browns and crisps in the oven, and adds richness.
- Thin bread slices
- Forms the outer shell that holds the charlotte's shape while it bakes.
The step that matters
Cooking the apple marmalade until stiff. The filling must be cooked down enough to thicken into a stiff marmalade. If it stays loose, it will soak the bread and collapse when the charlotte is turned out.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, butter, cinnamon, bread):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Pearfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, butter, cinnamon, bread. 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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