Croûte à la Normande

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •30 cm (12 inch) wide sauté pan with lid
• •3 L (3 quart) saucepan
• •Food mill or immersion blender
• •Slotted spoon
• •30 cm (12 inch) round serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Stew the apples stiff

   Put the sliced cooking apples, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons water in a wide sauté pan. Cover and cook over low heat for 7 minutes, just until the apples release their juice, then uncover and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring and crushing frequently. Keep going until the apple is very thick and a spoon drawn across the pan leaves a dry trench that does not close. Purée it completely smooth with a food mill or immersion blender. You should have about 2 1/2 cups. Reserve 1/4 cup for the sauce, set aside 1 cup for the crusts, and keep the remainder for the center. If the purée still spreads, do not add starch. Ça se rattrape: return it to the widest pan you own and cook gently until the excess water is gone.

   The wide pan is doing a brigade’s work here. It evaporates water quickly without forcing the apples onto fierce heat, which would brown them before they became stiff.
2. 2

   Poach the pale apples

   Combine the 2 cups water and 1 cup sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring only until the sugar dissolves, then lower the heat so the syrup barely trembles. Add half of the apple quarters and poach for 6 to 9 minutes, turning once, until a knife enters with gentle resistance but the pieces still hold their clean edges. Lift them carefully into a shallow dish and cover them with 1/2 cup of the clear syrup. A hard boil breaks the fruit. If a quarter splits, place it low in the finished pyramid where the intact fruit can support it.

3. 3

   Poach and reduce

   Tint the syrup remaining in the saucepan with 2 drops of rose-pink coloring. It should be the palest blush, not red. Poach the remaining apple quarters exactly as before, then lift them into a second shallow dish with a few spoonfuls of pink syrup. Return the holding syrups from both dishes to the saucepan and boil until reduced to about 3/4 cup. Whisk in the reserved 1/4 cup smooth apple purée and simmer for 2 minutes, until the sauce coats a spoon in a translucent, glossy layer. If it becomes jammy, loosen it with a tablespoon of hot water; if it runs like juice, reduce it a little longer. Remove from the heat and stir in the Kirsch or old rum.

4. 4

   Coat the crusts

   Arrange the 8 glazed Savarin crusts prepared according to Croûte aux Fruits (No. 2454) in a close circle on a 12 inch serving platter, their edges just touching. Spread the reserved 1 cup stiff apple purée over them, allowing about 2 tablespoons per crust. Keep the coating thick and slightly domed. A thin layer disappears into the bread; this firm cap protects the crust and gives the outer crown its proper weight.

5. 5

   Build the apple crown

   Spoon the remaining stiff apple purée into the center of the crust circle and shape it into a compact mound. Arrange 8 white and pink apple quarters alternately around its base, rounded sides outward. Add a second staggered tier of 5 quarters, then finish with the remaining 3 at the top. Use the softer pieces on the bottom and the cleanest quarters above. Press each tier lightly into the compote, just enough to secure it without squeezing the fruit.

6. 6

   Glaze and serve

   Warm the apple sauce gently if it has begun to set, then spoon it over the pyramid and crusts, letting the glaze follow the fruit rather than flood the platter. Pass any remaining sauce separately. Let the croûte settle for 5 minutes, then serve while the fruit is tender and the Savarin crusts still keep their glazed edges. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use tart apples that collapse willingly for the compote, such as Bramley or Granny Smith. Choose firmer Braeburn, Pink Lady, or Golden Delicious for the quarters; they must soften in syrup without losing their shape.
• •The compote is stiff enough when you can tilt the pan and it stays where it is. This is not ordinary breakfast compote. Its job is structural, and cooking off the water is the dish, not an optional refinement.
• •Rose means blush. Two drops of coloring are usually plenty, and the finished fruit should still look like apple beneath its pink syrup.
• •Kirsch gives a clear cherry-almond perfume, while old rum makes the finish rounder and darker. Do not exchange either for Calvados merely because Normandy is in the title; the book made its choice plainly.
• •Serve the assembled croûte within 30 minutes. After a long wait the glaze moves into the Savarin and softens the crusts. With it, pour a chilled demi-sec cider from Normandy.

Advance Preparation

• •The glazed Savarin crusts from Croûte aux Fruits (No. 2454) can be prepared up to 2 days ahead, cooled completely, and kept airtight at room temperature.
• •The stiff apple purée can be cooked up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat it gently to drive off any moisture that collects during storage, then cool it until firm before assembling.
• •The white and pink quarters can be poached up to 4 hours ahead. Keep each color separately covered by its own syrup in the refrigerator, then drain the fruit and reduce the combined syrups shortly before assembly.
• •Do not build the croûte far in advance. The individual elements wait patiently, but the assembled dessert should reach the table while its glazed crusts still have character.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 550g)