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 ↓
Charlotte De Pommes. — Charlotte of Apples.
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Cut the apples into quarters and peel them.
In a pan, combine the apples, butter, cinnamon, lemon peel, and pounded sugar.
Stew over medium heat, stirring to prevent burning.
When nearly done, remove from heat and mix in apricot marmalade.
Assemble and bake
Line a mold with slices of bread dipped in melted butter.
Pour the apple mixture into the lined mold.
Cover the top with more bread slices dipped in melted butter.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
Serve
Carefully separate the charlotte from the mold.
Serve.
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).
-
Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,598 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Cinnamon + apricottop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together618 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Form the soft, moist filling that cooks down into the charlotte's body.
- Bread slices
- Form the crisp, golden shell that holds the filling in shape.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and helps the bread brown and crisp in the oven.
- Apricot marmalade
- Adds sweetness and fruity aroma to the apple filling.
- Pounded sugar
- Sweetens the apples and helps them soften and caramelize while stewing.
The step that matters
Stewing the apples while stirring. Apples scorch easily on the bottom of a pan over heat. Stirring spreads heat evenly and keeps the mixture from burning, while the apples soften into a thick filling that holds its shape when the charlotte is unmolded.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, butter, cinnamon, sugar, apricot, bread):
- Vanillafits better
- Pearfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, butter, cinnamon, sugar, apricot, bread. 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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