Why it works: Pear and apricot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 218 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓
Charlotte De Poires
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a fairly hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the mold
Line the bottom of a charlotte mold with a round slice of bread, notched on one side.
Dip that side in lukewarm clarified butter.
Line the sides of the mold with similar bread slices, one inch wide.
Place the slices perpendicularly and overlapping slightly.
Make the pear filling
Cut the ripe pears into slices.
Stir the pear slices in a saucepan over heat until very stiff.
Add sugar to the pears and let cool slightly.
Assemble and bake
Fill the prepared charlotte mold with the pear mixture.
Cover with another round slice of bread dipped in butter.
Place the mold in a baking pan, cover it, and bake in a fairly hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
Serve
Once done, turn the charlotte onto a silver dish and let it stand for a while.
Prepare a sauce by reducing the syrup from the pears with ½ pint of apricot jam.
Pour some sauce around the charlotte.
Sprinkle the top with sugar.
Serve with the remaining sauce in a sauceboat.
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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Pear + apricottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together218 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + apricottop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,458 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + apricottop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together178 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + peartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together64 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread
- Forms the crisp shell that holds the pear filling in shape while baking.
- Clarified butter
- Coats the bread so it browns and crisps in the oven rather than drying out.
- Ripe pears
- Provide the main fruit flavor and, once cooked down, the soft filling.
- Apricot jam
- Adds sweetness and body to the sauce made from the pear syrup.
The step that matters
Stirring the pear slices until very stiff. Cooking the pears until most of their moisture has evaporated keeps the filling firm, so it holds its shape when turned out and does not make the bread soggy.
Swap the pear
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, sugar, apricot):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Peachfits better
- Pearthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, sugar, apricot. 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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