Chef Juliette
Bread Sauce
Sauce au pain turns milk, fresh crumb, butter, and cream into an ivory velvet for roast fowl. The whole lesson is timing: draw the clove-studded onion before its perfume becomes the sauce.
Culinary Explorer
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Apple Sauce
Created by Chef Juliette
Sauce aux pommes turns four plain ingredients into a softly cinnamon-scented companion for roast duck, goose, or hare. Covered gentle cooking is the whole technique: let the apples slump in their juices, then whisk.
Sauces & Condiments
French
Holiday
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
25 min cook•1 hr total
YieldAbout 3 cups (720 ml), 8 side servings
Sauce aux pommes (apple sauce) teaches the discipline of covered stewing: the fruit must soften in its own released juice without taking colour. That is the one true thing to know before touching the pan. Browning is splendid elsewhere, but here it muddies the clean apple flavour and risks bitterness beneath the cinnamon.
The old entry assumed a heavy stewpan, a cook close enough to judge a bit of cinnamon and a few tablespoonfuls of water by feel, and a whisk waiting at service. It asked for no saucier on staff, permanent stockpot, or salamander, and neither do you. A 2-quart heavy saucepan with a snug lid is the honest home equivalent. This version keeps the book's two pounds of apples, one tablespoon of powdered sugar, restrained cinnamon, and scant water; only the vague measures and pan size have been made precise. The quantity already suits a family holiday table, so there is no brigade batch to cut down.
Keep the covered, gentle cook. That is the dish, not brigade scaffolding. The dispensable part is constant attendance at the range; one midway check is enough. When the sauce is right, it is pale gold, softly scented, and smooth enough to mound beside a slice of roast goose without running across the plate. Before you touch the pan, choose the lowest steady burner and a lid that fits tightly; that covered cooking decides the sauce.
Cooked apple purées belong especially to the northern apple larders of Normandy and Brittany, where fruit naturally meets pork and boudin at the savoury table. Yet the sweetened, cinnamon-scented sauce served lukewarm with roast goose, duck, or hare was catalogued in the French classical repertoire as an English-style accompaniment, a reminder that the canon borrowed freely when a pairing worked. Whisking the cooked fruit into a smooth purée brought that household sauce into formal service without changing its purpose: fresh fruit and gentle acidity beside rich meat.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
medium apples
Quantity
About 6 medium (2 lb / 907 g before trimming)
quartered, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) chunks
powdered sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 8 g)
ground cinnamon
Quantity
1 small pinch, about 1/16 teaspoon (0.3 ml / 0.15 g)
water
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g), plus up to 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) only if needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| medium applesquartered, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) chunks | About 6 medium (2 lb / 907 g before trimming) |
| powdered sugar | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 8 g) |
| ground cinnamon | 1 small pinch, about 1/16 teaspoon (0.3 ml / 0.15 g) |
| water | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g), plus up to 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) only if needed |
Equipment Needed
- •2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan with a tight-fitting lid
- •Balloon whisk
- •Paring knife or vegetable peeler
- •Cutting board
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the apples
Quarter, peel, and core the apples, then cut them into roughly 1-inch (2.5 cm) chunks. Keep the pieces even so they collapse together; tiny pieces at the bottom can scorch while large ones above remain firm. Put each apple into the saucepan as soon as it is cut. A little surface darkening does no harm because the fruit is going straight to the stove.
- 2
Start the covered stew
Add the powdered sugar, the small pinch of cinnamon, and 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 45 g) water. Toss once to distribute everything, then cover tightly. Set the pan over medium-low heat just until moisture gathers and you hear the faintest bubbling beneath the lid, about 3 minutes, then immediately turn the heat to low. The water only starts the cooking; the apples must release the rest.
- 3
Cook without colour
Cook gently with the lid on for 18 to 25 minutes, giving the pan one shake halfway through. Check at 12 minutes: the apples should be wet, glossy, and beginning to slump. If the pan looks dry, add the reserved water 1 teaspoon at a time and cover it again. If you smell scorching, lift the pan off the heat at once and do not scrape the bottom. Transfer the clean fruit from the top into another saucepan, add 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) water, and continue over lower heat. Ça se rattrape. The apples are ready when every piece crushes under the whisk without resistance.
A hard boil drives off the scant moisture before the apples soften. Keep the sound beneath the lid to a quiet, occasional bubble. - 4
Whisk the purée
Take the pan off the heat and whisk the apples directly in the saucepan until they form a smooth, softly mounded purée. This whisking at service is part of the original method and must stay; it breaks down the tender fruit while leaving the sauce with body. If it is too loose, return it uncovered to low heat for 1 to 3 minutes, whisking frequently. If it is too thick, loosen it with hot water 1 teaspoon at a time. The finished sauce should hold the trail of a spoon briefly, then settle.
- 5
Serve it lukewarm
Let the sauce stand for 10 to 15 minutes, then spoon it into a warm serving bowl. Serve lukewarm with roast duck, goose, or hare, allowing a generous spoonful for each plate. Keep it beside the meat rather than pouring it over the crisp skin. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose apples that soften willingly. Reinette, Boskoop, Golden Delicious, or McIntosh all suit the method; very crisp keeping apples may need the full cooking time and the extra spoonful of water.
- •Be strict with the cinnamon. It should warm the apple's aroma without announcing itself as a separate flavour. The book calls for a bit, and a small pinch is exactly that.
- •Use the powdered sugar specified in the source. It dissolves quickly in the scant liquid, while brown sugar would darken the sauce and pull it away from the clean flavour intended here.
- •Whisk by hand rather than reaching for a blender. Cooked apples rich in pectin can turn sticky under fast blades, while a whisk gives the sauce its proper soft body.
Advance Preparation
- •The sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cool it promptly, cover, and refrigerate; its cinnamon aroma will become slightly rounder as it rests.
- •Reheat it covered over very low heat, adding 1 teaspoon of water if it has tightened in the cold. Stop when it is lukewarm, then whisk once before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 95g)
Calories
45 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
10 g
Protein
0 g
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