Chef Juliette
Apricots (Abricots)
Apricots peeled clean and poached just to tenderness, their golden halves held in clear syrup for tarts and cold sweets: a small lesson in texture, restraint, and knowing when fruit is ready.
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Apricots à la Condé
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2551, Apricots à la Condé, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Apricots à la Condé sets tender poached fruit on a border of distinct vanilla rice grains, then coats the whole with glossy kirsch-scented apricot syrup and bright candied fruit.
Desserts
French
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
Make Ahead
30 min
Active Time
55 min cook•3 hr 15 min total
Yield4 servings
Apricots à la Condé (poached apricots with vanilla sweet rice) teaches restraint: the rice must become tender enough to hold a border while every grain remains itself. Before you touch a pan, know this one thing. Stir only enough to prevent catching. A spoon worked too eagerly turns Condé into paste, and no candied cherry can distract from it.
The original entry assumes a pastry section with poached fruit, finished apricot syrup, and an even buttered border mould ready for service. At home, one poaching liquor becomes the syrup, while a small bowl and buttered spatula shape the rice directly on a round platter. The quantities here make four generous portions. The brigade's separate batches and special mould are scaffolding and can go; the whole-grain vanilla rice, poached apricots, candied fruit, and kirsch finish are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it is right, the ivory rice holds a soft, distinct grain, the apricots sit on it like little amber domes, and the syrup gleams rather than puddles. Pay closest attention while the rice cooks. Gentle heat and an undisturbed pan decide the Condé before the fruit ever reaches the platter.
Apricots à la Condé belongs to the Parisian classical repertory of entremets, where à la Condé became menu shorthand for sweet rice paired with fruit. The name is traditionally linked to the princely house of Condé, but the useful fact for the cook is simpler: Condé means the rice is structural, not a loose pudding hidden beneath the fruit. From grand dining rooms it passed naturally into bourgeois home manuals, because the rice, poached fruit, and syrup could wait separately and be assembled before dinner.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh apricots
Quantity
6 medium (about 14 oz / 400 g)
halved and pitted
cold water
Quantity
1½ cups (355 ml / 355 g)
for poaching
granulated sugar
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 200 g)
divided
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g)
short-grain white rice
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 100 g)
water
Quantity
4 cups (950 ml / 950 g)
for blanching the rice
whole milk
Quantity
2¼ cups (540 ml / 555 g)
divided
vanilla bean
Quantity
1
split lengthwise
fine sea salt
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g)
large egg yolks
Quantity
2 (about 36 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g)
softened and divided
Kirsch
Quantity
1½ tablespoons (22 ml / 21 g)
mixed candied fruit, preferably cherries and angelica
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 40 g)
cut into small pieces
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh apricotshalved and pitted | 6 medium (about 14 oz / 400 g) |
| cold waterfor poaching | 1½ cups (355 ml / 355 g) |
| granulated sugardivided | 1 cup (240 ml / 200 g) |
| fresh lemon juice | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) |
| short-grain white rice | ½ cup (120 ml / 100 g) |
| waterfor blanching the rice | 4 cups (950 ml / 950 g) |
| whole milkdivided | 2¼ cups (540 ml / 555 g) |
| vanilla beansplit lengthwise | 1 |
| fine sea salt | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g) |
| large egg yolks | 2 (about 36 g) |
| unsalted buttersoftened and divided | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) |
| Kirsch | 1½ tablespoons (22 ml / 21 g) |
| mixed candied fruit, preferably cherries and angelicacut into small pieces | ¼ cup (60 ml / 40 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide 3-quart (3-litre) saucepan
- •2-quart (2-litre) ovenproof saucepan with a tight lid
- •10 to 11-inch (25 to 28 cm) round serving platter
- •5-inch (13 cm) bowl to guide the rice border
- •Slotted spoon
- •Fine-mesh strainer
- •Flexible spatula
Instructions
- 1
Poach the apricots
Combine the cold water, ¾ cup (150 g) of the sugar, and the lemon juice in a wide saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Lower in the apricot halves and cover them with a round of parchment if they float. Poach at the barest tremble for 3 to 6 minutes, removing each half as soon as a knife enters with slight resistance. The fruit should yield but keep its shape. If a few halves soften too far, lift them out at once and chill them separately. Ça se rattrape: reserve the firm halves for the border and crush the softer ones into the syrup before straining.
- 2
Reduce the syrup
Return the poaching liquid to a lively simmer and reduce it to about ¾ cup (180 ml), 8 to 12 minutes. It should lightly nap the back of a spoon while remaining fluid enough to pour. Strain, especially if softened fruit was added, and let it cool until just warm before stirring in the Kirsch. Adding Kirsch off the heat preserves its cherry fragrance. If the syrup tightens into a sticky glaze, loosen it with hot water one teaspoon at a time.
- 3
Blanch the rice
Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Bring the blanching water to a full boil, add the rice, and cook for 2 minutes. Drain it thoroughly without rinsing. Blanching removes loose surface starch, which helps the grains remain distinct rather than collapsing into a stirred pudding.
- 4
Cook without stirring
Scrape the vanilla seeds into an ovenproof saucepan and add the pod, 2 cups (475 ml) of the milk, the remaining ¼ cup (50 g) sugar, and the salt. Bring just to a simmer, add the blanched rice, and stir once to distribute it. Cover tightly and bake for 28 to 35 minutes without stirring. The grains are ready when tender but still distinct and nearly all the milk is absorbed. If the rice is firm and dry, gently fold in up to 2 tablespoons of the reserved milk and bake for 5 minutes more. If it is tender but loose, uncover it for the final 5 minutes. Both conditions can be corrected; working it vigorously cannot.
- 5
Enrich the Condé
Remove the vanilla pod. Whisk the egg yolks with whatever remains of the reserved milk, then temper them with two spoonfuls of hot rice. Fold this mixture and 1½ tablespoons (21 g) of the butter through the rice using broad, gentle turns. Cover and return the pan to the oven for 4 to 5 minutes, until the rice is glossy and the yolks have thickened around the grains without forming yellow curds. Stop folding as soon as the mixture is even. The butter and yolks bind the Condé; they are not an invitation to stir it into paste.
- 6
Shape the border
Use the remaining butter to grease a 10 to 11-inch (25 to 28 cm) round serving platter, the outside of a 5-inch (13 cm) bowl, and a flexible spatula. Set the bowl upside down in the centre of the platter. Spoon the warm rice around it in an even border about 2 inches (5 cm) high, then smooth the top and sides with the buttered spatula. Lift away the bowl and tidy the inner edge. Let the rice cool for 20 minutes, cover without pressing film against the grains, and chill for at least 1 hour.
- 7
Crown and glaze
Drain the chilled apricot halves well and arrange them, rounded sides up, along the rice border. Tuck the candied cherries and angelica between them without burying the fruit. Spoon enough apricot-kirsch syrup over the apricots to coat them and let a little run onto the rice, then serve the remaining syrup from a small pitcher. Chill the assembled Condé for 30 minutes, but let it stand for 15 minutes before serving so the rice is cool and tender, not hard from the cold. Slice through rice and fruit together. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Use ordinary short-grain white rice, sometimes sold as dessert or pudding rice. Instant rice has no structure, while a risotto method releases too much starch. Condé needs tender grains that can still be seen and felt.
- •Fresh apricots should smell fragrant at the stem and yield slightly under a thumb. Rock-hard fruit stays sour after poaching. Out of season, use 12 good canned apricot halves in light syrup, drain them without repoaching, and reduce their syrup with the lemon juice.
- •Kirsch is a dry cherry eau-de-vie, not a sweet cherry liqueur. Its clean fragrance cuts through the milk and sugar. Add it only after the apricot syrup has cooled enough to touch.
- •A special border mould gives a precise ring, but the buttered-bowl method follows the source entry's hand-shaped option and needs no single-purpose equipment. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.
Advance Preparation
- •Poach the apricots and reduce the syrup up to a day ahead. Chill them in separate covered containers and stir the Kirsch into the cooled syrup.
- •The rice border can be shaped and chilled a day ahead. Cover it only after it has cooled, which prevents trapped moisture from making the surface wet.
- •Assemble the complete dessert up to 4 hours before dinner. Add only a light first coating of syrup, then spoon over a fresh gloss shortly before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 320g)
Calories
545 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
125 mg
Sodium
215 mg
Total Carbohydrates
97 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
74 g
Protein
9 g
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