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 ↓
French Turnover of Apples
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Prepare the apples as for a pie.
In a saucepan, combine apples, sugar, butter, lemon rind, and water.
Cover and cook over low heat, turning occasionally until apples are half done.
Pour apples into a basin to cool.
Assemble the turnover
Roll out pastry to a circular shape, about ⅛ inch thick and the size of a dinner plate.
Wet the edges and place a rolled cord of pastry within an inch of the edge.
Add the prepared apples, forming a dome in the center.
Spread marmalade over the apples.
Cover with another circular piece of pastry and seal the edges by pressing or folding them over.
Bake
Brush the top with beaten egg white and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until lightly golden.
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 + apricottop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together777 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
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Lemon + apricottop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,098 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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 + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + apricottop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,458 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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, softening as they cook and holding the turnover's shape.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps draw moisture out of the apples during cooking.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, mellow texture to the cooked apples.
- Apricot or orange marmalade
- Adds concentrated fruit sweetness and a layer of flavor between the apples and pastry.
- Beaten egg white
- Glazes the top of the pastry, promoting even browning and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Cooling the cooked apples before assembly. Hot apples would soften the pastry and release steam that can make the seal leak or the bottom soggy. Cooling them firms the filling so the dome holds and the pastry stays crisp while baking.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, butter, apricot, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Peachfits better
- Pearfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, butter, apricot, egg. 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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