Pommes à la Parisienne

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •8-inch (20 cm) round cake tin or flawn ring
• •3-quart heavy saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •10 cm round bowl for molding the rice
• •30 cm flat ovenproof serving platter
• •Piping bag with a large star tip
• •Pastry brush
• •Parchment paper

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the apples

   Combine the poaching water and sugar in a saucepan, bring them to a boil, and stir only until the sugar dissolves. Lower in the peeled, cored apples and cover them with a round of parchment so their exposed surfaces stay wet. Hold the syrup at the barest tremble, turning the fruit carefully once or twice, until a thin skewer enters with slight resistance, 12 to 20 minutes depending on the apples. Lift each apple out as soon as it is ready and cool it upright on a tray. If a skinless surface begins to split, remove that apple immediately; ça se rattrape. Stand the cracked side toward the rice dome later and support it with the piped meringue.

   The apples must be tender enough to eat with a fork but firm enough to stand. A hard boil breaks them before their centres finish cooking.
2. 2

   Cook the vanilla rice

   Wash the saucepan, add the milk and split vanilla bean, and bring the milk just to a simmer. Stir in the rice and cook over very gentle heat for 25 to 35 minutes, stirring often near the end so the milk does not catch. Add the rice sugar during the final five minutes. The rice is ready when the grains are tender and a spoon drawn through it leaves a furrow that closes slowly. If it becomes stiff before the grains soften, add a spoonful of milk; if it remains loose, cook it a few minutes longer. Remove the vanilla bean, spread the rice in a shallow bowl, cover its surface, and chill until firm enough to hold a dome.

3. 3

   Bake the Génoise

   Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter and line the base of an 8-inch (20 cm) round cake tin. Whisk the whole eggs and Génoise sugar in a heatproof bowl set over barely simmering water until lukewarm, then remove the bowl and beat until the mixture is pale, tripled in volume, and falls from the whisk in a ribbon that remains visible for several seconds. Fold in the sifted flour with broad turns, then fold in the warm melted butter. Stop as soon as no streaks remain. Spread the batter in the tin and bake for 10 to 13 minutes, until golden and springy at the centre. Cool for five minutes, turn it out, and let it become almost cold.

4. 4

   Prepare syrup and glaze

   Strain 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the cooled apple-poaching syrup and stir in the Kirsch. In a small saucepan, warm the apricot preserves with the glaze water, press the mixture through a fine sieve, and return it to the pan. Simmer until it coats the pastry brush thickly and a stroke across the pan floor remains open for a moment. Keep this stiff apricot syrup warm. If it sets before the dessert leaves the oven, loosen it over gentle heat with a teaspoon of water.

5. 5

   Soak the base

   Set the almost-cold Génoise on a flat ovenproof serving platter. Brush it repeatedly with the Kirsch-flavoured syrup, pausing after each pass so the cake drinks evenly. Use nearly all the syrup, but stop if liquid begins pooling underneath. Saturated means tender throughout, not collapsing at the rim.

6. 6

   Build the dessert

   Follow the governing arrangement of Poires à la Parisienne (No. 2584). Pack the cold vanilla rice into a lightly dampened 4-inch (10 cm) round bowl, invert it onto the middle of the soaked Génoise, and lift away the bowl to leave a neat dome. Blot the apples thoroughly, including their core cavities, then stand them upright around the rice. This drying is the step that holds the dessert together; if syrup appears beneath an apple, lift it, blot both surfaces, and replace it before piping.

7. 7

   Pipe and bake

   Lower the oven to 325°F (160°C). Beat the egg whites in a spotless bowl until they form soft peaks, then add the superfine sugar gradually and continue beating until the ordinary meringue is glossy and holds a firm point. Fit a piping bag with a fair-sized star tip. Pipe a ridged thread around the apples and between their bases, then pipe a fine rosette on top of the rice dome. Bake in the mild oven for 10 to 14 minutes, until the ridges are set and lightly golden. Use the oven, not the broiler; fierce top heat colours the sugar before the meringue can set.

   If the meringue slides as you pipe, the surface beneath it is wet. Scrape that section back into the bag, blot the fruit and base, then pipe again.
8. 8

   Glaze and serve

   As soon as the dessert leaves the oven, brush the exposed apples with the warm, stiff apricot syrup. Work gently so their skins of glaze remain smooth and the meringue stays clean. Arrange the drained half-sugared cherries in a close border around the Génoise. Let the dessert settle for 10 minutes, then serve warm or at room temperature, cutting through apple, rice, and cake in each portion. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose five apples of nearly identical size, small enough to stand around the rice dome. Firm Pink Lady, Braeburn, or a sound Reinette will poach without turning to pulp; floury apples belong in a compote.
• •Kirsch is a dry cherry eau-de-vie, not a sweet red cherry liqueur. Its clean cherry aroma cuts through the rice, meringue, and apricot without making the dessert taste sugary from end to end.
• •Half-sugared cherries, demi-confites, remain softer and less candied than glacé cherries. If glacé cherries are all you can find, halve them and use twelve rather than sixteen; the result will be sweeter, and it is better to say so plainly.
• •A smooth apricot preserve gives the cleanest glaze. Strain it even when the jar looks seedless, because small pieces of fruit catch on the brush and tear the surface of the apples.
• •Serve the dessert the evening it is assembled. Leftovers may be chilled for up to two days, but the Génoise continues drinking syrup and the meringue gradually softens.

Advance Preparation

• •The Génoise can be baked one day ahead. Cool it completely, wrap it well, and keep it at room temperature until the syrup is ready.
• •The apples and vanilla rice can be prepared up to eight hours ahead and chilled separately. Drain and blot the apples only when you are ready to assemble.
• •The apricot syrup can be prepared several days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat it gently with a teaspoon of water if it has become too firm.
• •Do not assemble the dessert far in advance. Once the Génoise is soaked and the fruit meets the meringue, the clock is running; pipe, bake, glaze, and serve within two hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)