Why it works: Apple and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,918 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓
Apple, Currants, Cherry, and Raspberry Tarts
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, combine apples, currants, cherries, raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch.
Pour the fruit mixture into the prepared pie crust.
Assemble and bake
Cover with another crust or lattice top, sealing the edges.
Cut slits in the top crust for steam to escape.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly.
Serve
Let cool before serving.
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 + curranttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,918 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Currant + lemontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,270 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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
- Apples
- Provide the bulk of the filling and a firm texture that holds some shape when baked.
- Cherries
- Add tart flavour and juiciness to the filling.
- Raspberries
- Contribute bright acidity and aroma, and release juice that thickens with the cornstarch.
- Currants
- Add tart, concentrated fruit flavour and some juice to the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and draws out juice from the fruit as it macerates.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the fruit juices as they heat, so the filling sets rather than running out.
The step that matters
Let cool before serving. As the tart cools, the cornstarch-thickened juices set. Cutting it while hot releases liquid that has not yet firmed, so the filling runs out and looks loose.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, lemon):
- Orangefits better
- Pearfits better
- Quincefits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, lemon. 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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