Why it works: Apple and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,551 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Apple Tart
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the tart
Make ½ lb puff pastry using your preferred recipe.
Place a border of pastry around the edge of a pie dish.
Fill the dish with the sliced apples, then sweeten with sugar.
Add lemon peel, lemon juice, and water to the apples.
Cover with pastry, trimming it to fit the edge of the dish.
Bake and finish
Bake in a hot oven (400°F / 200°C) for 30‑45 minutes.
When three‑quarters done, whisk the egg white until frothy.
Brush the pie with the frothy egg white and sprinkle with sifted sugar.
Add a few drops of water, then return to the oven to finish baking.
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 + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Puff pastry
- Forms a flaky, crisp case that holds the filling and browns in the oven.
- Apples
- Form the bulk of the filling and soften as they bake, giving the tart its body.
- Moist sugar
- Sweetens the apples and helps them caramelise slightly during baking.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the apple flavour and balances the sweetness.
- Egg white
- Brushed on top, it sets into a glossy, lightly browned surface.
The step that matters
Brushing with egg white at three-quarters bake. Egg white sets and gives a glossy finish only when applied near the end of baking; applied too early it can brown or harden before the crust is done.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, egg):
- Orangefits better
- Vanillafits better
- Limefits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, 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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