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Dessert

Apples a LA Frangipane

Apples à la Frangipane is baked apples topped with a butter and apricot jam mixture and a creamy arrowroot custard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Apples a LA Frangipane

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 the apples

  1. Peel and core the apples, then slice them into a deep dish.

  2. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the apples.

  3. Spread apricot jam thinly over the sugar.

  4. Add very thin slices of fresh butter on top.

Make the sauce

  1. Mix arrowroot with cream, a small bit of butter, and sugar in a saucepan.

  2. Stir the mixture over heat until it begins to boil.

  3. If the arrowroot mixture is too thick, add a little milk to thin it.

Bake

  1. Pour the mixture over the apples.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until done.

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. Apple + apricottop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together777 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

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

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

  5. Apple + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,104 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Apples
Form the bulk of the dish and soften into a tender, fruity base when baked.
Arrowroot
Thickens the cream mixture into a smooth, set custard-like layer.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, forming the body of the topping.
Apricot jam
Adds sweetness and a fruity aroma layered over the apples.
Fresh butter
Adds fat and richness, helping the top brown and the apples taste rounder.

The step that matters

Stir the arrowroot mixture until it just begins to boil. Arrowroot must reach a boil to thicken fully, but overheating or over-stirring can break down its starch, leaving the sauce thin or gluey. Watch it closely so it thickens smoothly before pouring.

Swap the arrowroot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, apricot, butter, cream, milk):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Sweet potatofits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Arrowrootthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, apricot, butter, cream, milk. 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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