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 ↓
Flan of Apples
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the apples
Peel, core, and cut each apple into 8 sections. Place them in a saucepan with cloves and sherry.
Cover the saucepan and place it in a larger tin with boiling water. Cook until the apples are tender but not breaking apart.
Bake the pastry case
Roll out the short crust pastry to ¼ inch thick and line a 6‑inch flan ring.
Fill the pastry with rice on buttered paper and bake at 400°F (200°C).
Once baked, remove the rice and paper, fill the pastry with the apples arranged in a pyramid, and strain any juice over them. Sprinkle with sugar.
Top and bake
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and spread over the apples.
Dredge with caster sugar and bake in a 300°F (150°C) oven until lightly browned.
Serve 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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Apple + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,774 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Apple + sherrytop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together395 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Sherry + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,237 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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 filling, softened by gentle cooking and holding their shape in the flan.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they form a light topping that sets and browns in the oven.
- Short crust pastry
- Forms the baked case that holds the filling and keeps it contained.
- Moist sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the apples brown slightly.
The step that matters
Cooking the apples until tender but not breaking apart. Apples that are undercooked stay firm and may not soften in the bake, while overcooked apples turn to mush and release excess juice that can soak the pastry and loosen the topping.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, sugar, sherry, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Gingerfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, sugar, sherry, 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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