Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Apricots, Flanc of
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the crust
Mix flour, butter, sugar, egg yolk, and enough milk to form a dough.
Butter a plain oval mold.
Line the mold with the crust, about ½ inch thick, pressing it into shape.
Let the crust rise above the mold by ½ inch.
Pinch the crust at regular intervals for decoration.
Bake the crust
Fill the crust with flour.
Bake the crust in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 30 minutes.
Remove the flour.
Carefully take the crust from the mold.
Return the crust to the oven for another 15 minutes.
Add the apricots and serve
Peel, pit, and halve the apricots.
Simmer the apricots in a syrup made from boiling sugar in water until tender.
Arrange the apricots neatly in the crust.
Boil the syrup until it reduces to a jelly.
Pour the syrup over the fruit.
Serve the flan either hot or cold.
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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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + apricottop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together826 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the dough structure that holds the flan's shape while baking.
- Unsalted butter
- Adds fat for a tender, flaky texture in the crust.
- Egg yolk
- Enriches the dough and helps bind it together.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and helps the syrup set to a jelly as it reduces.
- Apricots
- Provide the fruit flavour and a soft, tender filling.
The step that matters
Boil the syrup until it reduces to a jelly. Sugar syrup sets as its water evaporates and its concentration rises. If it is under-boiled it stays runny and soaks the crust; if over-boiled it can turn hard or caramelise and taste bitter.
Swap the apricot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg, milk, syrup):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Apricotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg, milk, syrup. 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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