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 Tarts
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
Pare, quarter, core, and boil the apples in ½ cup of water until soft.
Beat the apples until smooth.
Mix the beaten apples with the egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon rind, butter, and sugar.
Bake and finish
Line patty pans with puff pastry and fill with the apple mixture.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 5 minutes.
Beat the egg whites for meringue.
Mix the beaten egg whites with 3 tablespoons of sugar.
Cover the tarts with the meringue and return to the oven to brown delicately.
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 + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Tart apples
- Cooked and beaten to a smooth pulp that forms the body of the filling.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the apple filling as they set, giving it a rich, custard-like texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, softening the filling and giving it a smoother mouthfeel.
- Lemon juice and rind
- Add acidity and aroma that brighten the sweetness of the apples and sugar.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a meringue that forms a light topping which browns in the oven.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and, in the meringue, helps the whites hold their structure and brown.
The step that matters
Returning the meringue to the oven. Meringue can weep or brown unevenly if overbaked. Watch the tarts closely so the top turns delicately golden while the filling stays set and does not dry out.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, lemon, butter, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, lemon, butter, sugar. 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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