Chef Juliette
The Making of Ices
Freezing is the recipe: pack ice hard with salt, keep the canister moving, and scrape each frozen film into the base until the Glaces turn smooth, fine, and homogeneous.
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Glace Coucher de Soleil
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2780, Glace Coucher de Soleil, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Strawberry fruit ice, fragrant with Grand Marnier, folded through soft Chantilly until it turns the coral rose of an evening sky, then heaped in chilled crystal bowls for a generous, quietly splendid finish.
Desserts
French
Romantic
Date Night
Special Occasion
30 min
Active Time
0 min cook•3 hr total
Yield4 servings
Glace Coucher de Soleil (Sunset Ice) teaches one exact thing: Chantilly must meet the strawberry ice when the fruit is set but still supple. Freeze the purée solid and the cream collapses against icy pebbles; leave it liquid and the finished glace freezes dense. You want a thick, smooth slush that mounds briefly from the spoon.
The original preparation assumed a silver timbale kept over ice and a hand-cranked freezer that could be repacked for service. A stainless-steel bowl, the refrigerator, and a shallow metal pan in a household freezer do the same work tonight. I have halved the brigade proportions for four generous bowls, but kept their ratio intact. The silver and the management of fresh ice were scaffolding and can go; the cold maceration, fine sieve, staged freezing, and Chantilly are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening, and for once the stove can remain cold.
When it is right, the glace is coral rose, close-textured but soft on the spoon, with ripe strawberry first and the bitter-orange warmth of Grand Marnier underneath. Watch the fruit during its first freeze. Catch that supple, spoonable moment and the rest follows beautifully.
Glace Coucher de Soleil belongs to the Parisian grand-kitchen dessert repertoire, where fruit ices were churned in ice-and-salt freezers, held for the dining room, and presented in crystal bowls. Its name is a service description rather than a regional claim: strawberry purée becomes the colour of a clear western sky when pale Chantilly is folded through it. The sunset tint comes entirely from ripe fruit and cream, with no colouring or elaborate layered mould required.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
very ripe strawberries
Quantity
1 heaped pint (475 ml / 225 g)
hulled
powdered sugar
Quantity
1¼ cups (300 ml / 142 g)
sifted
Grand Marnier
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g)
cold heavy whipping cream
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 240 g)
powdered sugar for the Chantilly
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 15 g)
sifted
pure vanilla extract
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 2.5 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| very ripe strawberrieshulled | 1 heaped pint (475 ml / 225 g) |
| powdered sugarsifted | 1¼ cups (300 ml / 142 g) |
| Grand Marnier | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) |
| cold heavy whipping cream | 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g) |
| powdered sugar for the Chantillysifted | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 15 g) |
| pure vanilla extract | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 2.5 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Fine-mesh sieve, 15 to 18 cm
- •Shallow metal freezer pan, about 20 cm
- •Electric hand mixer or balloon whisk
- •Flexible spatula
- •Four crystal or glass dessert bowls
Instructions
- 1
Chill the equipment
Put a shallow 20 cm metal pan, a mixing bowl, the mixer beaters, and four crystal or glass dessert bowls in the freezer for 15 minutes. Cold equipment keeps the fruit crystals fine and gives the Chantilly more time before it softens.
- 2
Macerate the strawberries
Put the hulled strawberries in a stainless-steel or glass bowl. Sprinkle over the 1¼ cups powdered sugar and the Grand Marnier, turn the berries gently until coated, then cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This cold macération draws out the juice without dulling the perfume; the berries are ready when they sit in a pool of deep red syrup and yield easily beneath a spoon.
- 3
Sieve the fruit
Rub the strawberries and every drop of their syrup through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing firmly with the back of a ladle or flexible spatula. Scrape the thick purée from beneath the sieve and discard the dry seeds. Do not replace the sieve with a quick blending alone: the smooth, seedless finish is part of the preparation, not brigade ceremony.
- 4
Freeze to a slush
Pour the purée into the chilled shallow pan and freeze for 45 to 75 minutes, scraping the frozen edges into the centre and whisking thoroughly every 20 minutes. Stop when the fruit ice is evenly cold, thick, and softly set, like a smooth slush that holds a furrow for several seconds. Do not let it become a solid block. If it does, ça se rattrape: leave it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, break it up, and whisk until supple before continuing.
A shallow metal pan freezes quickly and evenly, doing at home what the original ice-packed freezer did during service. - 5
Whip the Chantilly
Reserve 1 tablespoon of the measured cream, then whip the remainder with the 2 tablespoons powdered sugar and the vanilla until it forms soft-to-medium peaks. This is Chantilly, sweetened vanilla whipped cream. Stop while the cream still looks satiny and bends at the tip of the whisk; stiff, grainy cream will not fold cleanly. If it begins to roughen, work in the reserved cold cream by hand until smooth. If the rescue was unnecessary, stir that reserved spoonful into the fruit ice.
- 6
Fold fruit and cream
Stir one-quarter of the Chantilly into the supple strawberry ice to loosen it, then add the remainder in two portions, folding broadly from the bottom until no white streaks remain. Work with patience, not force. The mixture should be an even coral rose and thick enough to mound softly; if it becomes pourable, return the bowl to the freezer for 10 minutes before giving it two final folds.
- 7
Set and serve
Transfer the mixture to the chilled metal pan, cover it closely, and freeze for 35 to 40 minutes, until it holds a spooned shape while remaining creamy. Heap it carefully into the chilled crystal bowls in small pyramids, exactly as the dish intends, with no unnecessary garnish. If a longer stay in the freezer has made it firm, let it soften in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The strawberries must smell of strawberries before you buy them. Outside their season, use unsweetened frozen berries picked ripe, thawed with all their juice; they give a more honest purée than pale fresh fruit.
- •The quantity of sugar looks bold because it is doing structural work. It keeps the fruit ice supple after freezing and balances the unsweetened bulk of the cream. Reduce it sharply and the glace becomes hard and icy.
- •Keep the Grand Marnier. Its cognac and bitter-orange character is the sole flavouring beneath the fruit, and another orange liqueur makes a lighter, less rounded dessert.
- •Serve the glace without berries, mint, or decoration. Its sunset colour and careful pyramid are the finish. A small glass of Grand Marnier alongside is quite enough.
Advance Preparation
- •The strawberries can be macerated and sieved up to one day ahead. Cover the purée closely and refrigerate it, then begin freezing about two hours before dessert.
- •The completed glace is at its finest within four hours of folding in the Chantilly. If held overnight, cover it closely and soften it in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes before shaping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 160g)
Calories
385 calories
Total Fat
22 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
70 mg
Sodium
20 mg
Total Carbohydrates
46 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
43 g
Protein
2 g
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