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 ↓
An Apple Tart
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 apples
Pare the apples and core 4 of the largest without breaking them.
In a small saucepan, place the cored apples with half the lemon juice, half the grated rind, and half the sugar; cover with water and boil slowly until nearly done.
Cut the remaining 6 apples into pieces and place them in a separate saucepan with the rest of the lemon juice, rind, sugar, and a little water.
Boil the pieces slowly to make apple sauce or marmalade.
Add the butter and rub through a colander.
Assemble and bake
Line a pie plate with pastry.
Fill the bottom with the marmalade.
Place the whole apples in each quarter of the pie, sinking them into the marmalade.
Fill the cavities between the apples with the sauce.
Place two strips of crust across the pie to separate the apples.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden.
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 + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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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
- Apples
- Form the bulk of the filling, providing the tart's fruit body and flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps the apples soften into a thick marmalade.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the sweet apple filling.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, glossy texture to the apple sauce.
The step that matters
Boiling the whole apples until nearly done. Apples cooked too long collapse and lose their shape, while undercooked ones stay firm and hard. Stopping at nearly done lets them hold their form and finish softening in the oven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, butter):
- Pearfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, butter. 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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