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Dessert

Apfel Torte

A baked apple tart with butter, almonds, and lemon rind in a short crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Apfel Torte

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

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Pare, core, and slice the apples.

  3. Blanch the almonds, then cut them into strips.

Make and fill the tart

  1. In a bowl, combine the sugar, cream, lemon rind, melted butter, and beaten eggs, and mix well.

  2. Stir in the sliced apples and let the mixture stand.

  3. Line two large plates with the short crust, adding a narrow rim around the edge.

  4. Fill the center with the apple mixture and sprinkle the almonds on top.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until done.

  2. Dredge liberally with caster sugar before serving.

  3. Serve hot or cold.

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

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

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

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

  3. Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

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

  5. Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,551 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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 moisture that softens as it bakes.
Eggs
Bind the cream and butter mixture and help it set into a custard-like filling.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, giving the filling a smooth, tender texture.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a tender mouthfeel in the filling.
Almonds
Add a nutty aroma and a crisp texture when baked on top.
Moist sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps it brown lightly as it bakes.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, almond, egg, lemon, sugar, cream):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raspberryfits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, almond, egg, lemon, sugar, 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.

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