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.
Cook the apples
Peel, core, and cut each apple into 8 sections.
Place the cut apples in a saucepan with the cloves and sherry.
Cover the saucepan and place it in a larger pot of boiling water.
Cook until the apples are tender but not falling apart.
Bake the pastry case
Roll out the pastry to about ½ inch thick and line a 6‑inch flan ring with it.
Fill the pastry with rice on buttered paper and bake at 400°F (200°C).
Once baked, remove the rice and paper.
Assemble and finish
Fill the pastry with the apples arranged in a pyramid.
Strain any juice over the apples.
Sprinkle with sugar.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and spread over the apples.
Dredge with castor sugar.
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 fruit filling that softens and gives the flan its main body and flavour.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they form a light, set topping that browns in the oven.
- Sherry
- Adds aromatic flavour to the apples as they cook gently in the saucepan.
- Flaky or short crust pastry
- Forms the crisp base that holds the filling in the flan ring.
- Moist sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture to the apple filling.
The step that matters
Cook the apples until tender but not falling apart. Apples cooked too long turn to mush and release excess liquid, which can make the flan soggy. Stopping at tender keeps their shape and lets them hold up under 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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