Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Charlottes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the crumb case
Combine cinnamon sugar, orange zest, lemon zest, and wine in a bowl. Mix until crumbs absorb the liquid.
Butter a Charlotte mold. Press the mixture into the bottom and sides, about ½ inch thick.
Fill and bake
Warm the apples. Place them in the hollow of the mold.
Cover the top with a buttered round slice of bread. Place the mold on a baking sheet. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 40 minutes.
Serve
Remove from the oven. Run a knife around the edges. Turn it out. Dust with caster sugar.
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 + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Cinnamon + orangetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,437 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + appletop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread
- Forms the crumb case and top that hold the apples in shape while baking.
- Apples
- Provide the filling, softening and turning tender and sweet as they bake.
- Cinnamon sugar
- Adds sweetness and warm spice that flavours the crumb case.
- Madeira or malaga wine
- Moistens the crumbs and adds aromatic, slightly sweet flavour to the case.
The step that matters
Press the crumb mixture firmly and evenly. Bread absorbs liquid and sets as it bakes, so an even, firm layer holds the shape when turned out. Thin or loose spots can tear or collapse.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cinnamon, sugar, orange, wine, butter, apple, bread):
- Figfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Pearfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cinnamon, sugar, orange, wine, butter, apple, bread. 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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