Why it works: Orange and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orange Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the peel
Grate the outer skin of the orange.
Squeeze the juice into a dish.
Soak the orange peel in water, changing the water often for four days.
Boil the soaked peel in a saucepan of water, changing the water twice to remove bitterness.
Once tender, wipe the peel.
Beat the peel finely in a mortar.
Make the filling
Boil the same weight of double refined sugar in water to make a syrup.
Skim the syrup.
Add the orange pulp to the syrup.
Boil until clear.
Fill and bake
When cool, fill the tarts with the mixture.
Squeeze in the orange juice.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
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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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Orange peel
- Provides the bulk of the candied filling and its characteristic bitter-citrus flavour.
- Double refined sugar
- Sweetens the filling and, boiled in syrup, preserves the peel and helps it turn clear.
- Orange juice
- Adds moisture and fresh citrus acidity to the filling.
- Tart pastry
- Forms the crisp shell that holds the filling during baking.
The step that matters
Boiling the peel to remove bitterness. Bitter compounds in citrus peel are drawn out by repeated soaking and boiling in fresh water. Changing the water too few times leaves the peel harsh, and the flavour carries into the final filling.
“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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