Skip to main content
Dessert

Apples a LA Frangipane

Baked apples topped with apricot jam, butter, and a custard made from potato flour, cream, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 a LA Frangipane

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the apples

  1. Slice the peeled and cored apples into a deep dish.

  2. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the apples.

  3. Spread apricot jam thinly over the sugar.

  4. Add thin slices of fresh butter on top.

Make the cream layer

  1. Mix potato flour or arrow-root with cream and a small piece of butter in a saucepan.

  2. Add sugar to taste and stir over medium heat until it begins to boil.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the mixture over the apples.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until set.

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.

  1. Apple + apricottop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together777 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Apple + potatotop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together603 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Apples
Provide the fruit base that softens and becomes tender under the custard layer while baking.
Potato flour or arrow-root
Thickens the cream mixture so it sets into a firm layer when baked.
Cream
Forms the rich custard layer that sets and adds moisture and richness.
Apricot jam
Adds sweetness and fruity flavor that soaks into the apples as they bake.
Fresh butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavor through the apples as it melts.

The step that matters

Bringing the cream mixture to a boil. Starch thickens only once it reaches boiling, so stopping early leaves the layer runny. Stirring keeps it smooth and prevents lumps from forming on the bottom of the saucepan.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, apricot, butter, cream):

  1. Sweet potatofits about as well
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Potatothe original
  4. Parsnipfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, apricot, butter, cream. 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.

You might also like

Apple PuddingApple Pudding256 recipesDeep-Fried Potato BallsDeep-Fried Potato Balls119 recipesApple CakeApple Cake80 recipesOrange Potato BreadOrange Potato Bread80 recipes