No. 3172

Fruit Flawn

Flan de Fruits

Have a flawn ring lined with flawn paste (No. 135); raise the edges to form a ridge, pinching this evenly; prick the bottom, egg the ridge twice and line the inside with buttered paper; fill with very dry rice and cook in a moderate oven. Empty and cover the bottom with fine apple marmalade (No. 3674) reduced with apricot; on top lay some white halved apples cooked in syrup and properly drained, some white compoted halved pears, strawberries, cherries, grapes or any other kind of fine green and red fruits; pour vanilla syrup over, and cover with apple jelly (No. 3668), having previously poured it in a very thin layer on a plate the same size as the flawn. To remove this jelly from the plate press a sheet of paper of larger dimensions than the plate over it, detach the jelly from the plate all around with the tip of a knife and lift the jelly by carefully raising one side of the paper. Invert this on the pie, wet the paper and lift it off without the jelly.

← No. 3171 Cherry Flawn Cold Entremets — Creams, Jellies & Charlottes No. 3173 Gooseberry Flawn →

For the Modern Kitchen

This is a blind-baked fruit tart dressed cold, and Ranhofer's cross-references hide most of the work. Two things decide whether it succeeds: the shell must be baked dry and the fruit must be drained dry, or the glaze weeps.

"Flawn" and the flawn ringFlawn is the older English form of flan, meaning an open tart. A flawn ring is a bottomless metal ring set on a baking sheet, about 8–9 inches across and an inch deep; a tart ring or a loose-bottomed tart tin does the same job.
Moderate ovenRead as 350°F. Bake until the shell is dry and pale gold throughout, roughly 25–35 minutes, then let it cool completely before filling.
Blind baking with riceThe buttered paper and "very dry rice" are pie weights. Use dried rice or beans on parchment or foil, remove them for the last few minutes so the base dries out, and keep the rice in a jar for reuse rather than cooking with it.
Egging the ridge twiceTwo coats of beaten egg on the pinched rim, the second after the first has dried, give the gloss and help the crimp hold its shape. Keep the wash off the baking sheet, where it will glue the pastry down.
Apple marmalade reduced with apricotThis is thick apple purée cooked down with apricot jam or apricot glaze until it holds a mound on the spoon. Any stiff apple butter blended with warmed, sieved apricot preserve gives the same base; if it is loose it will soak the crust.
Drain the fruit hardPoached apple and pear halves and any syruped fruit should sit on a rack or cloth until they stop dripping. Ranhofer specifies "properly drained" for good reason: syrup left on the fruit will thin the jelly lid and slide it off.
The jelly lidThe hinge of the recipe. Set apple jelly in a very thin sheet on a plate the exact diameter of the tart, then transfer it on a sheet of paper laid over the top, invert it onto the fruit, and wet the paper so it releases. The jelly must be firm and cold before you try to lift it; a warm sheet tears.
Vanilla syrupA light sugar syrup infused with a split vanilla bean. Ranhofer says to pour it over the fruit; use enough to moisten without letting it pool in the shell.
Yield and servingAn 8- or 9-inch flawn cuts into six to eight wedges. Assemble the same day and serve cold; the pastry softens overnight.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) was Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty years' cooking at Delmonico's in New York, and it is organized like a professional reference rather than a household book — hence the numbered cross-references to paste No. 135 and apple jelly No. 3668, which a chef de partie would already have standing in the larder. "Flawn" is the Middle English form, descended from Old French flaon, itself generally traced to a Late Latin word for something flat, and Ranhofer runs a whole series of them here: cherry, gooseberry, fruit. The mirror-smooth jelly disc lifted onto the fruit on a sheet of wet paper belongs to the ornamental pâtisserie of the period, when a cold entremets was expected to arrive on the table looking glazed and untouched; the same instinct survives today in the apricot glaze brushed over a French fruit tart, done with a brush because few kitchens still keep a plate of set apple jelly on hand.