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Dessert

Apple Cheesecakes

Apple cheesecakes are small pastry cups filled with stewed apples and a sweet custard mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,774 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Apple Cheesecakes

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Roll out the pastry and cut it into rounds to line small patty tins.

  3. Peel, core, and quarter the apples.

Make the filling

  1. Place the apples in an enamelled pan with 1 tablespoon of water and the cloves; stew until soft.

  2. Add the brown sugar and butter; stir until dissolved, then rub through a fine wire sieve.

  3. Beat the eggs and mix them into the apple mixture.

Bake

  1. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the mixture into each patty case.

  2. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

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 + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,774 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,706 recipes

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

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together16,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

Apples
Provide the main body and fruity flavour of the filling as they soften when stewed.
Eggs
Beaten into the mixture to help it set as it bakes.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a smoother, softer mouthfeel.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a caramel-like depth of flavour to the apples.
Short or puff pastry
Forms the crisp case that holds each spoonful of filling while it bakes.

The step that matters

Rubbing the apple mixture through a fine sieve. Stewed apples left unsieved stay lumpy and fibrous, so the filling bakes with a coarse texture. Pressing it smooth before adding the eggs gives an even, creamy set.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Gingerfits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against apple, butter, sugar, 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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