Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Cranberry Tart
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the cranberries and remove them from the stalks.
Peel, core, and slice the apples.
Stone and wash the prunes.
Make the filling
Combine the cranberries, apples, prunes, and sugar in a saucepan.
Stew the mixture until soft, about 30 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a pie dish and let it cool.
Bake
Cover with short crust and bake for about 30 minutes.
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 + 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
- Cranberries
- Provide the sharp, tart flavour that the sugar balances.
- Apples
- Add pectin that helps the filling thicken as it softens.
- Prunes
- Add sweetness, body and moisture to the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and balances the cranberries' tartness.
The step that matters
Stew until soft. Cranberries must cook long enough to soften fully, or they stay tough and sharply sour. The apples and prunes break down and release pectin and body, which helps the filling set. Stop too early and the filling stays loose and grainy.
“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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