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 ↓
Apple Tartlets
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the pastry
Roll out the tart pastry until thin.
Use a fluted cutter to stamp out twenty circular pieces.
Line the tartlet pans with the pastry pieces.
Fill and bake
Fill each tartlet with a spoonful of apple marmalade.
Cover each tartlet with a mosaic of pastry.
Brush the tops with egg wash.
Place the tartlets on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F (175°C) until light in color.
Finish and serve
Once baked, sprinkle fine sugar over the tartlets.
Use a salamander or broiler to give them a glossy appearance.
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
- Tart pastry
- Forms the buttery, crisp shell and lid that hold the filling.
- Apple marmalade
- Supplies sweet, concentrated apple flavor and moisture for the filling.
- Fine sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the tops caramelize slightly when heated.
- Egg wash (in the method)
- Promotes browning and a glossy golden surface on the pastry.
The step that matters
Bake until light in color, not dark. Pastry continues to darken after leaving the oven, and sugar in the filling and sugar on top can scorch quickly, so removing the tartlets at light golden prevents bitterness.
“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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