Fruit Suprême à la Gabrielle

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1-quart (1-liter) ring or savarin mould
• •Deep roasting tin for the bain-marie
• •Heavy broad saucepan or sauté pan
• •Small heavy saucepan with ample headroom
• •Clip-on or instant-read sugar thermometer
• •Wet pastry brush
• •Thin-bladed knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the mould

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Butter a 1-quart (1-liter) ring or savarin mould thoroughly, reaching into every curve. Press six halved candied cherries, cut-side against the metal, around the bottom as a simple ornament, then chill the mould for 10 minutes so the butter fixes them in place. Keep the remaining candied cherries for the border on the serving platter.

2. 2

   Dry the apples

   Put the sliced apples, 4 tablespoons butter, and ⅓ cup sugar in a broad, heavy pan. Cover and cook over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit collapses. Uncover, raise the heat slightly, and cook while crushing the apples with a wooden spoon until you have a thick, nearly smooth paste that pulls from the pan and leaves a clean trail behind the spoon, about 15 minutes more. This drying is the structure of the border. If liquid still gathers in the trail, keep cooking; if the bottom catches, lower the heat and transfer the apples to a clean pan without scraping up the scorched patch. Ça se rattrape.

   Use tart apples that collapse readily. A very sweet eating apple stays watery and makes the border both dull and fragile.
3. 3

   Bind with eggs

   Let the apple paste cool until warm rather than hot, about 10 minutes. Beat the eggs together, then work them into the apples in three additions, mixing each completely before the next. If the apple is hot enough to scramble the egg, the border will be grainy, so wait until you can comfortably hold a fingertip against the mixture. Spoon it into the prepared mould, press firmly to remove air pockets, smooth the surface, and cover loosely with buttered parchment and foil.

4. 4

   Poach the border

   Set the mould in a deep roasting tin and pour just-boiled water into the tin until it reaches halfway up the mould. This bain-marie, a hot-water bath, protects the egg-bound apples from harsh oven heat. Poach for 45 to 55 minutes, until the border feels firm at the inner and outer edges and the center registers about 175°F (80°C). Lift the mould from the water and rest it for 10 minutes, still covered.

5. 5

   Poach pears and raisins

   While the apple border cooks, bring the 2 cups water and 1 cup sugar to a gentle simmer in a saucepan. Add the pear quarters and cover them with a small circle of parchment so they remain submerged. Poach at the barest tremble for 10 to 15 minutes, until a knife enters with slight resistance and the quarters still hold their shape. Lift out the pears. Measure exactly 1 cup of pear syrup for the sugar stage, then pour another ½ cup of the hot syrup over the currants and sultanas. Leave them to swell for 15 minutes and drain well, keeping any remaining syrup nearby.

6. 6

   Build the macédoine

   Arrange the pear quarters, pineapple lozenges, semi-candied cherries, angelica leaves, drained currants, and drained sultanas in a wide sauté pan. This is the macédoine, the mixture of fruits. Handle it gently and keep the pieces distinct; it should look generous and varied, not stirred into compote.

7. 7

   Cook the sugar

   Apply The Cooking of Sugar (No. 2344): combine the measured 1 cup pear syrup with the scant 1 cup, or 192 grams, of sugar in a clean saucepan with plenty of headroom. Stir over low heat only until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and boil until the syrup reaches the small-ball stage, 236°F (113°C). Brush crystals from the sides with a wet pastry brush. If the syrup begins to grain, remove it from the heat, add the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of water, cover, and boil gently for 1 minute to dissolve the crystals; uncover and continue to temperature. Use the thermometer, not the old finger test. One cook has only ten fingers, and we need all of them.

   Once the syrup boils, stirring encourages crystals. Let the pan do its work and watch the thermometer closely because the final degrees arrive quickly.
8. 8

   Finish off heat

   Remove the small-ball syrup from the heat and carefully whisk in the very thick almond milk. Pour this over the prepared macédoine, bring it to the gentlest simmer, and cook for exactly 10 minutes, nudging the fruit rather than stirring it roughly. If the syrup tightens before the fruit is hot, loosen it with a spoonful of the remaining pear-poaching syrup. Take the pan completely off the fire, wait until the bubbling subsides, and swirl in the cold diced butter until the syrup becomes glossy. If the butter separates into yellow beads, lift out the fruit, whisk 1 teaspoon cold water into the syrup until it comes together, then return the fruit. Ça se rattrape.

9. 9

   Turn out and fill

   Run a thin knife around the inner and outer edges of the apple border and invert it onto a warm serving platter. If it clings, wrap the mould in a hot damp towel for 30 seconds and try again without shaking. Arrange the remaining candied cherries around its base, spoon the warm macédoine generously into the center, and let a little almond syrup pool against the apple. Scatter the finely splintered almonds over the fruit and serve at once. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The apple paste is ready only when it behaves like a soft dough and the pan stays visible after the spoon passes. A damp purée may taste pleasant, but it cannot support a ring. Patience, not extra egg.
• •A clip-on or instant-read sugar thermometer is the honest home equivalent of testing boiling syrup with wet fingers. Calibrate it in boiling water before a special dinner if you have any doubt about its accuracy.
• •Candied angelica is not green decoration pretending to matter. Its herbal edge cuts through the preserved fruit and almond syrup, so order a small box from a good confectionery supplier and cut the leaves with a paring knife.
• •Carton almond drink is too thin. Smooth white almond butter whisked with a little hot water gives the concentrated almond milk the original kitchen kept ready, without asking you to grind and press almonds during dinner preparation.
• •Serve Fruit Suprême à la Gabrielle warm, in modest slices with plenty of macédoine. A chilled demi-sec Champagne suits the fruit and celebration without making the plate feel heavier.

Advance Preparation

• •Poach the pears up to one day ahead. Refrigerate them in their syrup, then bring both to room temperature before measuring the syrup for the sugar stage.
• •The apple border can be poached up to 4 hours before serving and held in its mould. Warm it for 15 minutes in a fresh bain-marie before turning it out.
• •Cut the pineapple, angelica, cherries, and almonds earlier on the day of serving. Keep each covered separately so the colors and textures remain distinct.
• •Cook the final macédoine about 20 minutes before serving. The butter must still be added away from the fire at the finish, even when everything else was prepared ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)