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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Pommes Gratinées
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2596, Pommes Gratinées, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Vanilla-poached apple quarters, dense apple marmalade, and a thin cap of Pralin (No. 2352): Pommes Gratinées teaches the quiet oven discipline of drying first and colouring second.
Desserts
French
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
Dinner Party
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 10 min cook•1 hr 45 min total
Yield4 servings
Pommes Gratinées (apples baked under an almond topping) teaches a quiet discipline: the topping must dry through before it takes colour. A fierce oven can give you a handsome surface and sticky egg white beneath, which is failure wearing a good coat. Mild heat, patience, then the faintest gold.
This is the pastry station's work, not the saucier's. The brigade version assumed vanilla syrup, apples prepared for Charlotte, and Pralin (No. 2352) waiting at the proper consistency. At home, make both apple layers in one wide pan and build only enough for four people. Preparing large quantities in advance was brigade scaffolding, so it goes. What stays is the dish itself: distinct poached quarters, a somewhat stiff bed of minced apple, and a fairly thin cover of Pralin (No. 2352). One cook, one stove, one evening.
The finished gratin should yield first with a delicate almond crust, then with tender apple and concentrated marmalade beneath. Set the oven low before the topping goes on. Dry first, colour second, and you have the whole lesson.
Pommes gratinées belongs to the Parisian grand-kitchen repertoire of fruit entremets, where poached fruit and preserves were assembled to order beneath a final baked covering. Here gratinée does not imply cheese or fierce top heat; it names the finishing of the surface, and the mild oven matters because the egg-white Pralin (No. 2352) must set before it colours. The dish carries the economy of the home apple charlotte into formal service, using shaped quarters above and a stiff apple base below.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
firm-tart apples
Quantity
6 medium (about 2 lb / 900 g)
divided
water
Quantity
3 cups (710 ml / 710 g)
granulated sugar for the poaching syrup
Quantity
1½ cups (360 ml / 300 g)
vanilla bean
Quantity
1
split lengthwise
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g)
softened and divided
granulated sugar for the apple marmalade
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 50 g)
fairly thin Pralin à Condé
Quantity
¾ cup (180 ml / 160 g) Pralin (No. 2352)
icing sugar
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 15 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| firm-tart applesdivided | 6 medium (about 2 lb / 900 g) |
| water | 3 cups (710 ml / 710 g) |
| granulated sugar for the poaching syrup | 1½ cups (360 ml / 300 g) |
| vanilla beansplit lengthwise | 1 |
| unsalted buttersoftened and divided | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) |
| granulated sugar for the apple marmalade | ¼ cup (60 ml / 50 g) |
| fairly thin Pralin à Condé | ¾ cup (180 ml / 160 g) Pralin (No. 2352) |
| icing sugar | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 15 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •11-inch (28 cm) wide saucepan or sauté pan
- •9-inch (23 cm) shallow gratin dish
- •Small offset spatula
- •Slotted spoon
Instructions
- 1
Make the vanilla syrup
Combine the water and syrup sugar in a wide saucepan. Scrape in the vanilla seeds, add the pod, and bring to a boil while stirring just until the sugar dissolves. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Keep the syrup clear and only lightly concentrated; boiling it hard wastes water and gives the apples nowhere gentle to poach.
- 2
Poach the quarters
Peel and core 4 apples, then cut each into quarters and lower them immediately into the vanilla syrup. Lay a round of baking paper directly over the fruit and hold the syrup at the barest tremble for 8 to 12 minutes, turning the quarters once, until a knife enters with slight resistance. They must remain intact because the oven finishes them. Lift them onto a rack or folded towel and drain for at least 10 minutes. If a quarter begins to feather, remove it immediately and add it to the marmalade in the next step; ça se rattrape, and the extra apple only strengthens the base.
Never boil the apples. A rolling syrup breaks their edges and leaves the outside woolly before the centre is tender. - 3
Cook the apple marmalade
Peel, core, and mince the remaining 2 apples. Melt three-quarters of the butter in a wide pan, add the minced apple and the marmalade sugar, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Stir more frequently as the moisture leaves. The preparation is ready when it gathers into a mound and a wooden spoon drawn across the pan leaves a clean trail for several seconds. Keep it somewhat stiff, as for a Charlotte; this is the structural bed, not a loose compote. If juice still pools, widen the apple across the pan and keep cooking. If it catches, lower the heat, add 1 tablespoon of poaching syrup, scrape the browned spot loose, and cook the added moisture away.
- 4
Assemble the gratin
Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C) with a rack just below the centre. Butter a shallow 9-inch (23 cm) gratin dish with the remaining butter. Spread the stiff apple marmalade evenly across the bottom, then arrange the drained quarters closely over it, curved sides facing up. Place small spoonfuls of the fairly thin Pralin (No. 2352) across the apples and gently connect them with an offset spatula, making a continuous layer about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. Do not press hard enough to disturb the fruit. Sift the icing sugar evenly over the surface.
- 5
Dry before colouring
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the Pralin (No. 2352) looks dry and matte, releases cleanly from the tip of a paring knife, and has taken only a pale almond-gold colour. The broiler is no substitute for the mild oven; it colours a damp topping before the egg white sets. If the surface darkens while the centre remains tacky, lower the oven to 275°F (135°C) and slide an empty baking sheet onto the rack above the dish to soften the top heat. Continue until dry. Ça se rattrape.
- 6
Rest and serve
Rest the gratin for 10 minutes so the almond covering settles and the apple base regains its body. Serve it warm, directly from its baking dish. The spoon should break a thin crust, pass through a tender apple quarter, and finish in marmalade firm enough to hold its place. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose an aromatic apple that holds its shape, such as Reine des Reinettes, Cox, Braeburn, or Pink Lady. A soft dessert apple collapses during poaching; a very hard, watery one gives you shape without much flavour.
- •Have the Pralin (No. 2352) prepared to the fairly thin à Condé consistency before assembly. It should spread in a shallow ribbon without running into the marmalade or dragging the apple quarters out of place.
- •The thinness of the topping is part of the dish. A heavy cap remains gummy beneath before it colours, while a very sparse one dries into patches rather than a continuous crust.
- •Serve the gratin warm rather than fiercely hot. Ten minutes of rest makes the apple taste fuller and lets each spoonful carry all three textures.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare the Pralin (No. 2352) earlier the same day and hold it as directed in its own entry. Stir it gently before spreading so its consistency is even.
- •The vanilla syrup can be made up to 2 days ahead, cooled, covered, and refrigerated. Bring it back to a gentle simmer before poaching the apples.
- •The apple quarters and stiff marmalade can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerated separately. Drain the quarters again before assembly, then allow an extra 5 minutes in the mild oven if both components remain cold.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 260g)
Calories
470 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
15 mg
Sodium
15 mg
Total Carbohydrates
80 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
69 g
Protein
6 g
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