Why it works: Apple and apricot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 777 recipes. Both carry gamma-undecalactone, which smells peach, sweet. The science ↓
Apples Meringues a LA Portuguaise
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the pie
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Prepare a pastry case and partially bake it.
Fill the case with apple marmalade, leaving a well in the center.
Arrange apple pieces on top in a dome shape, leaving the center hollow.
Fill the hollow with pastry custard and cover with orange marmalade.
Make and bake the meringue
Whip the egg whites until firm, then mix in the sifted sugar to create meringue.
Spread the meringue over the apple dome smoothly.
Use a piping bag to create a design with the remaining meringue.
Sprinkle sifted sugar on top and bake until light fawn color.
Finish and serve
Before serving, fill the center with alternating layers of red currant and apple jellies, and greengage or apricot jam for decoration.
Serve hot.
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 + apricottop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together777 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
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Orange + apricottop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together703 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Orange + red curranttop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together124 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Apple + orangetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Red currant + apricottop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together58 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped into meringue that sets and browns over the apple dome.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the meringue and helps it brown during baking.
- Apple marmalade
- Forms the sweet, moist apple base of the pie.
- Pastry custard
- Adds a creamy, set filling in the hollow center.
- Red currant jelly
- Adds tart fruit flavor and a glossy finish to the center.
The step that matters
Whipping and baking the meringue. Egg whites must be whipped until firm and the sugar added gradually so the meringue holds its shape. Under-whipped meringue weeps and collapses, while the bake must be watched so it browns lightly without over-darkening.
Swap the red currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, apple, orange, apricot):
- Vanillafits better
- Peachfits better
- Pearfits better
- Red currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, apple, orange, apricot. 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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