Why it works: Orange and apple match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,230 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Apple Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
Remove the yellow rind from the oranges.
Boil the rind in a small amount of water until tender, then chop it finely.
In the same water, simmer the apples until soft.
Add sugar and the juice and rind of the oranges before they are fully cooked.
Boil until the syrup thickens.
Let it cool.
Make and finish the tarts
Make the tarts in small shallow pie dishes or tin patty pans using a string paste.
Cover the tarts.
Ice the tarts.
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.
-
Orange + appletop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 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
- Apples
- Break down into soft pulp that thickens the filling and gives body to the tart.
- Oranges
- Supply the juice and rind that add tangy acidity and bitter aroma to the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and, as it cooks into syrup, helps it thicken and set.
The step that matters
Boil until the syrup thickens. Sugar and fruit pectin set as the syrup reduces; too little boiling leaves a runny filling, while overcooking can turn it stiff and sticky once cooled.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar):
- Pearfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar. 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.
More apple tarts recipes
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.