Name: Apple Charlotte
Ingredients: 3 oz sugar; 2 oz lemon juice or vanilla flavoring or cinnamon; 3 oz apricot jam; butter (for frying); stale loaf (for lining the mold)

Why it works: Lemon and apricot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,098 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Apple Charlotte

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

3 oz sugar
2 oz lemon juice or vanilla flavoring or cinnamon
3 oz apricot jam
butter (for frying)
stale loaf (for lining the mold)

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.

In a stewpan, combine sugar, lemon juice or flavoring, and cinnamon. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add apricot jam towards the end and let it cool.
Butter a plain mold and line it with slices of stale loaf fried in clarified butter, joining the slices neatly.
Fill the mold with the apple mixture and cover the top with more slices of bread fried in butter.
Place a plate with a weight on top and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 30 to 40 minutes.
Drain the butter, carefully turn out the apple charlotte, and serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Lemon + apricottop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,098 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Apricot + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,458 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + apricottop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,630 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).