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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Abricots Meringués
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2555, Abricots Meringués, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Poached apricot halves settle into vanilla sweet rice beneath a gently baked meringue dome, then jam catches every piped crest in alternating amber and ruby. Bake softly, and the centre sets before the shell colours.
Desserts
French
Dinner Party
Celebration
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
1 hr cook•1 hr 40 min total
Yield4 servings
Abricots meringués (poached apricots on sweet rice beneath meringue) teaches a useful discipline: gentle heat must finish the inside before it flatters the outside. The rice should be creamy but firm enough to carry the fruit, the apricots tender but still themselves, and the meringue softly set beneath its pale golden shell.
The book's kitchen expected vanilla sweet rice, poached fruit, and Ordinary Meringue (No. 2382) waiting in separate bowls, with enough hands to pipe a Charlotte-shaped dome for formal service. One cook needs less ceremony. This four-serving version uses roughly half the finished meringue component, a shallow gratin dish, and a simple ring of rosettes. The brigade decoration is scaffolding and can shrink; the rice, apricot halves, domed meringue, mild bake, and alternating jams are the dish and must stay.
Use a domestic oven, not a torch pretending to be a salamander. The source asks the oven to cook the meringue slightly, not merely colour it. That gentle bake is the step that decides everything: if the shell darkens before the centre sets, lower the heat and shield it, then carry on.
Abricots meringués belong to the composed entremets of the French grand dining room, particularly the Parisian repertoire that paired poached fruit with sweet rice and meringue. Although apricots point naturally toward the Rhône valley and Provence, this arrangement is not a Provençal farmhouse sweet; its identity comes from formal assembly, a domed covering, and jams applied after baking. It passed readily to bourgeois home tables because a shallow dish and moderate oven could replace the pastry station while preserving the fruit, rice, and meringue.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
white short-grain rice
Quantity
1/2 cup (120 ml / 100 g)
whole milk
Quantity
2 cups (475 ml / 490 g)
granulated sugar
Quantity
1/4 cup (60 ml / 50 g)
for the rice
unsalted butter
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g)
vanilla bean
Quantity
1
split lengthwise and scraped
fine salt
Quantity
1/16 teaspoon (0.3 ml / 0.4 g)
medium apricots
Quantity
8 (about 1 lb / 450 g)
halved and pitted
water
Quantity
1 1/2 cups (355 ml / 355 g)
granulated sugar
Quantity
3/4 cup (180 ml / 150 g)
for poaching
Ordinary Meringue (No. 2382)
Quantity
3 cups (710 ml / about 340 g)
freshly prepared from one-half formula
icing sugar
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 15 g)
smooth apricot jam
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 40 g)
smooth red-currant jam
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 40 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| white short-grain rice | 1/2 cup (120 ml / 100 g) |
| whole milk | 2 cups (475 ml / 490 g) |
| granulated sugarfor the rice | 1/4 cup (60 ml / 50 g) |
| unsalted butter | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) |
| vanilla beansplit lengthwise and scraped | 1 |
| fine salt | 1/16 teaspoon (0.3 ml / 0.4 g) |
| medium apricotshalved and pitted | 8 (about 1 lb / 450 g) |
| water | 1 1/2 cups (355 ml / 355 g) |
| granulated sugarfor poaching | 3/4 cup (180 ml / 150 g) |
| Ordinary Meringue (No. 2382)freshly prepared from one-half formula | 3 cups (710 ml / about 340 g) |
| icing sugar | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 15 g) |
| smooth apricot jam | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 40 g) |
| smooth red-currant jam | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 40 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 2-quart saucepan
- •Wide shallow saucepan for poaching
- •1 1/2-quart shallow gratin dish
- •Piping bag with a 1/2-inch star tip
- •Fine-mesh sieve
Instructions
- 1
Cook the vanilla rice
Put the milk, vanilla seeds and pod, and salt in a heavy saucepan and bring them just to a simmer. Stir in the rice, lower the heat, and cook at the barest bubble for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring often and scraping the corners, until the grains are tender and the mixture is thick enough that a trail from the spoon closes slowly. Stir in the sugar and butter, cook for 2 minutes more, then discard the pod. If the milk catches, don't scrape the scorched floor; immediately pour the clean upper portion into another pan and finish it gently.
The rice must be thicker than ordinary rice pudding because it carries both fruit and meringue. It should mound softly on the spoon, not run from it. - 2
Poach the apricots
Bring the water and poaching sugar to a gentle simmer in a wide saucepan, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Add the apricot halves in one layer and poach without boiling until a knife enters with slight resistance, 2 to 3 minutes for ripe fruit or as long as 6 minutes for firmer fruit. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain thoroughly, cut-side down. If a few soften too far, chill them flat before handling; they will still sit neatly beneath the meringue.
- 3
Build the fruit layer
Heat the oven to 160°C/325°F conventional, or 150°C/300°F fan. Spread the vanilla rice in an even layer across a shallow 1 1/2-quart gratin dish and let it cool until warm rather than hot. Arrange the drained apricot halves over it, cut-side down and close together. Blot away any visible syrup, because loose moisture beneath the meringue encourages weeping.
- 4
Shape the meringue dome
Cover the fruit with about five-sixths of the freshly prepared Ordinary Meringue (No. 2382), spreading it into a low, even dome and sealing it against the rice around the rim. Put the remainder into a piping bag and pipe a border of eight generous rosettes or scallops. This replaces the brigade's elaborate Charlotte decoration without changing its purpose. Patch any exposed fruit with a spoonful of reserved meringue, then sift the icing sugar evenly over the whole surface.
- 5
Bake it gently
Bake on the middle rack for 18 to 24 minutes, until the meringue feels dry at the surface, springs softly under a fingertip, and has taken only a pale straw-gold colour. Do not broil it. A fierce oven bronzes the shell while leaving the centre unset; if it colours during the first 10 minutes, ça se rattrape. Lower the temperature by 15°C/25°F, place a loose foil shield above the dome without touching it, and continue until the meringue is set.
- 6
Finish with both jams
While the dish bakes, warm the apricot and red-currant jams separately over very low heat until each flows easily but does not boil. As soon as the dish leaves the oven, spoon the jams alternately onto the piped rosettes, amber on one, ruby on the next, keeping their colours distinct. Let the Abricots Meringués settle for 10 minutes, then serve warm with a broad spoon that reaches through every layer. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose apricots that smell fragrant at the stem but still resist a gentle squeeze. Very ripe fruit dissolves in syrup. Outside the season, use 16 good canned apricot halves in light syrup, already preserved by poaching, then drain and blot them thoroughly.
- •Short-grain rice supplies the starch that lets the base hold together beneath the fruit. Long-grain rice stays separate and gives the spoonful no structure.
- •Prepare Ordinary Meringue (No. 2382) only when the rice and apricots are ready. Use it promptly while it remains light enough to dome and firm enough to hold the piped decoration.
- •Keep the two jams separate and merely warm. Boiled jam becomes sticky and dull, while cold jam dents the tender shell instead of settling neatly into the decoration.
- •Serve this warm rather than fiercely hot. Ten minutes of rest lets the rice settle and the meringue finish firming, so the spoon lifts a clean portion with all three layers.
Advance Preparation
- •Cook the vanilla rice up to one day ahead, press parchment directly against its surface, and refrigerate it. Bring it back to room temperature before assembly so the meringue does not sit over a cold centre.
- •Poach and drain the apricots up to one day ahead. Keep them covered in the cold, then blot them carefully before placing them on the rice.
- •Measure the jams and fit the piping bag earlier in the day, but prepare the meringue and assemble the dish shortly before baking. The finished dessert is best served within 45 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 340g)
Calories
630 calories
Total Fat
7 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
20 mg
Sodium
150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
131 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
105 g
Protein
10 g
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