Chef Juliette
Almond Pudding
Six almond-lined moulds, gently poached until softly risen, with white-wine sabayon scented by orgeat. The lesson is simple and exact: the bain-marie must tremble, never boil.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Rissoles
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2518, Rissoles, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Thin puff pastry folded around tart jam, sealed with care and fried until butter-gold: twelve little rissoles that teach the grand pastry lesson that a crisp shell begins with cold dough and a clean, exact seam.
Pastries & Cookies
French
Celebration
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
30 min
Active Time
20 min cook•1 hr 10 min total
Yield12 rissoles (4 servings)
Rissoles aux confitures (sweet jam-filled fried turnovers) teach one severe little pastry lesson: the seal is the dish. The filling must be cold and thick, the paste thin, and the seam spotless, because one loose edge in the frying oil turns a plump half-moon into an empty shell. Get that seam right and the reward is immediate, crisp fine layers, a warm fruit centre, and sugar caught on every ridge.
The classical pastry kitchen assumed a bowl of puff-paste trimmings left from larger work and a frying kettle held ready. At home, one cold all-butter sheet, rolled firmly to temper its lift, gives the honest equivalent; twelve half-moons replace a brigade's display of purses, rounds, and ovals. The parade of shapes is service scaffolding and can go. Thin paste, modest filling, and a complete seal are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Keep the pastry cold, use no more than a teaspoon of filling, and press each rim from the fruit outward so trapped air escapes before you crimp. That complete seal is the one step that matters most before the pan comes near you.
Sweet rissoles belong to the French classical entremets course, where pastry cooks carried the enclosed, fried form of the savoury hors-d'œuvre into dessert and filled it with marmalade, jam, stewed fruit, a Salpicon, or cream. Because the name describes a method rather than one fixed silhouette, half-moons, purses, rounds, and ovals all sit correctly under it; the common idea that a rissole must be savoury misses half the canon. When ordinary brioche paste replaces the preferred puff-paste trimmings, the preparation becomes the Viennese-fritter cousin listed à la Dauphine, while plain and Pralined creams remain among the classical fillings.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
all-butter puff pastry
Quantity
14 ounces (400 g)
kept refrigerator-cold but pliable
thick apricot jam or raspberry preserves
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 80 g)
large fruit pieces finely chopped
all-purpose flour
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 16 g)
for rolling
large egg
Quantity
1
beaten
cold water
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g)
refined sunflower or peanut oil
Quantity
6 cups (1.4 liters / 1.3 kilograms), or enough for a 2-inch (5 cm) depth
for frying
confectioners' sugar
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 30 g)
sifted
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| all-butter puff pastrykept refrigerator-cold but pliable | 14 ounces (400 g) |
| thick apricot jam or raspberry preserveslarge fruit pieces finely chopped | ¼ cup (60 ml / 80 g) |
| all-purpose flourfor rolling | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 16 g) |
| large eggbeaten | 1 |
| cold water | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) |
| refined sunflower or peanut oilfor frying | 6 cups (1.4 liters / 1.3 kilograms), or enough for a 2-inch (5 cm) depth |
| confectioners' sugarsifted | ¼ cup (60 ml / 30 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •4 to 5-quart heavy saucepan or Dutch oven
- •Deep-fry or instant-read thermometer
- •4-inch (10 cm) round pastry cutter
- •Rolling pin
- •Spider or wide slotted spoon
- •Wire cooling rack and rimmed tray
Instructions
- 1
Chill the filling
Set twelve level teaspoonfuls of jam on a parchment-lined plate and chill them while you roll the pastry. The jam must hold a mound rather than spread into a puddle. If yours runs, stir it in a small saucepan over medium-low heat for 2 to 4 minutes, until a spoon drawn across the pan leaves a brief clear path, then cool it completely before proceeding. Warm or loose jam will find the seam no matter how carefully you press it.
A tart preserve with plenty of fruit gives the best balance against puff pastry and sugar. Jelly melts too freely and is much harder to contain. - 2
Roll the pastry
Whisk the beaten egg with the cold water and set it aside. Flour the work surface sparingly, divide the pastry in half, and return one half to the refrigerator. Roll the first piece firmly to about ⅛ inch (2 to 3 mm) thick, large enough to cut six 4-inch (10 cm) rounds. This firm second rolling gives a fresh sheet the subdued lift of the puff-paste trimmings preferred by the classical kitchen. Cut cleanly, stack any scraps flat rather than kneading them into a ball, and reroll them once if needed. Repeat with the remaining pastry.
- 3
Fill and seal
Work with a few rounds at a time and keep the rest cold. Brush a ½-inch (1 cm) border lightly with the egg mixture, then place one chilled teaspoonful of jam just off-centre. Fold the pastry over without stretching it. Press closely around the filling first to expel trapped air, then seal the rim firmly and crimp it with a fork. If jam or flour reaches the seam, open that section, wipe it clean, brush again with egg, and reseal. Ça se rattrape. Do not add extra filling; what looks ungenerous now becomes exactly enough once hot.
- 4
Chill and heat
Arrange the sealed rissoles on a parchment-lined tray and chill them uncovered for 20 minutes. The cold firms the butter and sets the seam so the pastries keep their shape in the oil. Meanwhile, place a wire rack over a tray. Pour the frying oil into a heavy 4 to 5-quart pot, keeping the pot no more than half full, and heat it to 350°F (175°C). Keep the thermometer in place and a lid within reach, and never move a pot of hot oil.
- 5
Fry until golden
Brush away any loose flour and lower three rissoles into the oil, moving them away from you. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, turning once or twice, until they are evenly puffed, crisp, and deep butter-gold. Hold the oil between 340°F and 350°F (170°C and 175°C): cooler oil makes the pastry heavy, while hotter oil colours the outside before the inner layers cook. If one rissole opens, lift it out immediately and remove any escaped jam before it scorches; return the waiting pastries to the refrigerator and check every seam before continuing.
- 6
Sugar and serve
Transfer each batch to the wire rack and let the excess oil fall away for 2 minutes. Sift confectioners' sugar generously over the rissoles while they are still warm, then let them stand for 5 minutes before serving because the fruit centre holds its heat fiercely. Bring them to the table warm, with the shells still crisp and the jam thick at the centre. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Butter, not margarine. All-butter puff pastry fries with a clean flavour and delicate layers; pastry made with substitute fats leaves a waxy finish that sugar cannot disguise.
- •A Salpicon, fruit cut into tiny dice and bound with a little thick jam, is an equally classical filling. Use firm poached pear or well-drained apricot cut no larger than ¼ inch (5 mm), and keep the mixture dry enough to hold on a teaspoon.
- •Plain and Pralined creams also belong inside sweet rissoles, but they must be thoroughly chilled and firm. Use the same scant teaspoon per pastry, because an overfilled rissole is simply a leak waiting for oil.
- •Brioche paste makes the related à la Dauphine preparation. It is not a casual substitution for puff pastry: the softer dough needs proofing and produces a rounder, breadlike fritter.
- •A thermometer earns its place here. Let the oil recover to 350°F (175°C) between batches, and brush away loose flour so it does not blacken at the bottom of the pot.
Advance Preparation
- •Shape the rissoles up to 8 hours ahead, cover them loosely once cold, and keep them refrigerated until the oil is ready. The longer rest makes the seam more dependable.
- •For longer storage, freeze the shaped rissoles in a single layer until firm, then pack them airtight for up to 1 month. Thaw them uncovered in the refrigerator so their surfaces are dry before frying.
- •Fried rissoles are best within 30 minutes. If necessary, rewarm undusted pastries for 4 to 5 minutes in a 375°F (190°C) oven, then apply fresh confectioners' sugar just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 150g)
Calories
775 calories
Total Fat
51 g
Saturated Fat
23 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
27 g
Cholesterol
125 mg
Sodium
275 mg
Total Carbohydrates
70 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
18 g
Protein
9 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Entremets (Sweets) - Puddings
Browse the full collection
Chef Juliette
English Almond Pudding
Butter worked to a true pommade carries almonds, eggs, orange-flower water, and cream into a tender pouding, gently set in a bain-marie and brought to the table in the very dish that baked it.
Chef Juliette
Biscuit Pudding
Pouding aux biscuits turns crushed ladyfingers, hot milk, kirsch-soaked fruit, butter, and yolks into a tender pudding, with five late-folded whites keeping every spoonful light beneath warm apricot sauce.
Chef Juliette
Cabinet Pudding
Liqueur-soaked biscuits, jewel-bright fruit, and vanilla custard are packed into one mould and poached without a bubble. Fill slowly, and every slice holds its cabinet of colours.