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Dessert

Apple Float

A dessert of stewed apples in a gelatinous syrup, topped with custard and whipped egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Apple Float

Ingredients

Directions

Poach the apples

  1. Place the apples in a pot and cover with water.

  2. Stew until they are soft.

  3. Remove the apples and add sugar to the cooking water.

  4. Bring to a boil.

  5. Return the apples to the pot and stew until they are clear.

  6. Slice the lemon into the syrup.

  7. Add the dissolved gelatine in cold water. Mix well.

  8. Bring to a boil.

  9. Pour the syrup over the apples.

  10. Let it cool until congealed.

Make the custard

  1. Whisk together egg yolks, powdered sugar, and milk.

  2. Spread custard over the apples when cold.

Top and bake

  1. Whip the egg whites.

  2. Flavor with lemon.

  3. Place on top of custard.

  4. Brown in the oven.

  5. Serve cold with cream or enjoy as is.

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. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

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

  3. Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,790 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,551 recipes

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

  5. Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Apples
Hold their shape as the body of the dessert while softening and becoming tender.
Gelatine
Sets the syrup so it congeals into a firm layer over the apples.
Egg yolks
Thicken the milk into a smooth custard layer.
Egg whites
Whipped into a light foam that forms the float on top.
Sugar
Sweetens the syrup and helps the apples turn clear as they cook.
Milk
Forms the base of the custard, giving richness and body.

The step that matters

Brown in the oven. Whipped egg whites are prone to collapsing or drying if overbaked; they need only a light browning. Watch closely so the foam sets and colours without deflating.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, egg, milk, nutmeg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Orangefits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, egg, milk, nutmeg. 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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