Pommes à la Chevreuse

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •30 cm (12-inch) shallow ovenproof serving dish
• •Wide 30 cm (12-inch) sauté pan for poaching
• •2-liter heavy saucepan
• •Small saucepan for reducing the apricot purée
• •Balloon whisk and firm heatproof spatula
• •Slotted spoon
• •Offset spatula
• •Rimmed baking sheet to support the serving dish

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the vanilla apples

   Combine 2½ cups (600 ml) of the water with 1¼ cups (250 g) of the syrup sugar and the split vanilla bean in a wide pan. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Add the five apples in batches and poach at the barest tremble for 7 to 12 minutes, turning once, until a thin knife enters with slight resistance. A hard boil makes the quarters woolly and breaks their edges. Lift them carefully into a shallow dish, pour over enough syrup to cover, and leave them to cool in it.

   Choose apples that hold their shape, such as Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, or a firm reinette. Floury apples collapse before the syrup reaches their centers.
2. 2

   Poach the pink apples

   Rinse the pan, then combine the remaining 1½ cups (360 ml) water and ¾ cup (150 g) syrup sugar. Tint it a clear pale rose with the food coloring. Lower in the small whole apple and simmer it gently for 5 minutes before adding the two quartered apples. Continue until the quarters are tender but intact and the small apple is cooked through, about 8 minutes for the quarters and 15 to 20 minutes in total for the whole apple. Cool them in the pink syrup. If a quarter splits, use it in the salpicon and overlap two neighboring quarters when decorating the base.

3. 3

   Cook the semolina

   Bring the milk, ⅓ cup (65 g) sugar, and salt to a bare simmer in a heavy saucepan. Rain in the semolina slowly while whisking, then reduce the heat and stir with a firm spatula for 8 to 10 minutes. It is ready when it pulls cleanly from the pan and holds a mound rather than flowing back into place. Remove it from the heat, beat in the 2 tablespoons butter, wait 3 minutes, then beat in the yolks one at a time. If lumps appear, whisk hard while the mixture is still hot or press it through a coarse sieve. Do not thin it into porridge; the croquette-like firmness is what supports the dome.

4. 4

   Bind the salpicon

   Simmer the apricot purée in a small saucepan for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring, until a stroke of the spatula leaves the pan floor visible for two seconds. Let it cool until merely warm. If the raisins feel leathery, soak them for 10 minutes in a little hot vanilla syrup, then drain and dry them well. Fold the raisins and evenly diced candied fruit into the apricot purée. This is the salpicon, a mixture of small dice cohered by a sauce or purée, and it must sit in a spoon without leaking syrup around its edges.

5. 5

   Build the cushion

   Butter a 30 cm (12-inch) shallow ovenproof serving dish. Spread about two-thirds of the warm semolina into a round cushion 18 cm (7 inches) wide and roughly 2 cm (¾ inch) high, making a broad hollow in its center. Drain the vanilla apples thoroughly and blot their surfaces. Arrange 12 quarters in a close border around the cushion, rounded sides outward and tips pointing slightly inward. Spoon the salpicon into the center without raising it above the border, then spread the remaining semolina over it in a thin, even coat, joining it firmly to the cushion beneath.

6. 6

   Chill the structure

   Refrigerate the assembled cushion for 30 to 45 minutes, until the semolina feels firm and cold and no syrup collects around the apples. Keep the remaining white quarters, all the pink quarters, and the small pink apple in their syrups until needed. This pause is not brigade scaffolding. A warm or wet foundation makes the meringue slide, while a cold one gives it something solid to grip.

7. 7

   Shape the meringue dome

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C) with a rack in the lower-middle position. Spread the Ordinary Meringue (No. 2382) over the chilled construction, pressing on a thin sealing coat first so every apple and seam is covered. Mound the remainder over it and shape a smooth dome about 20 cm (8 inches) wide and 10 cm (4 inches) high. Seal the meringue against the platter at the base so fruit syrup cannot escape. Sprinkle the chopped pistachios over the dome and dredge it evenly with the icing sugar.

8. 8

   Bake and decorate

   Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the dome is set beneath its surface and colored a restrained biscuit-gold. Mild heat is the technique. If the top browns while the lower sides still look wet, reduce the oven to 275°F (140°C), shield the crown with a loose foil tent that does not touch it, and continue for 8 to 10 minutes. Ça se rattrape. Do not use the broiler. Rest the dish for 5 minutes, then drain the remaining apple quarters thoroughly and arrange them around the base in a close circle, alternating white and pink. Form a rosette of angelica lozenges on the crown and set the small pink apple, stem upright, in its center. Serve within 20 minutes. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The apples are architecture as much as fruit. Buy firm specimens of similar size, and remove each quarter from the syrup while a knife still meets faint resistance. Residual heat finishes the center.
• •The pink syrup is meant to color the apples without giving them a new flavor. Two or three drops of rose coloring do the pastry station's job honestly; berry juice or beet juice changes both flavor and color as it bakes.
• •Apricot purée may come from good preserved fruit. If it is watery, reduce it before measuring the finished consistency. A loose purée seeps into the semolina and sends the salpicon wandering when the dome is cut.
• •Candied angelica gives the classical green rosette. If none can be found, elongated lozenges of green candied melon preserve the geometry, though the herbal flavor of angelica will be absent.
• •Serve with a small glass of demi-sec Vouvray or Champagne. The wine needs enough fruit to meet the candied center, but brisk acidity keeps the meringue from owning the whole conversation.

Advance Preparation

• •Poach both colors of apples up to one day ahead and refrigerate them submerged in their separate syrups. Drain and blot them only when assembling.
• •The salpicon can be mixed one day ahead and chilled. Bring it just to cool room temperature before spreading so it remains supple but never runny.
• •The semolina cushion may be assembled with its apple border and filling up to 6 hours ahead, then covered and refrigerated. Apply the meringue only when the oven is hot.
• •Once baked, Pommes à la Chevreuse is best served within 20 minutes. Refrigerated leftovers remain safe for one day, but the meringue softens as it draws moisture from the apples.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 480g)