Coupes d’Antigny

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1-quart ice cream maker or shallow metal freezer pan
• •Blender and fine-mesh sieve
• •2-quart saucepan for poaching
• •Small stainless-steel saucepan for caramel
• •Candy thermometer
• •Two long wooden spoons and two dinner forks
• •Four 6 to 8 fluid ounce (180 to 240 ml) shallow glass coupes

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the strawberry base

   Put the 100 g sugar and 95 ml water in a small saucepan. Warm gently, stirring only until the sugar dissolves, then remove it from the heat without reducing it. Cool completely. Purée the strawberries with the cold syrup and pass the mixture through a fine sieve, pressing firmly but leaving the seeds behind. Chill for at least 2 hours. The fruit never cooks, because its high, woodland perfume is the reason for using fraises des bois.

   Frozen wild strawberries are an honest choice and often more fragrant than tired fresh ones. Thaw them in the refrigerator and include every drop of their juice.
2. 2

   Churn the ice

   Churn the cold strawberry mixture until it mounds softly and resembles a firm sorbet, usually 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer it to a shallow covered container and freeze for about 2 hours, until firm but still workable. If it freezes solid, leave it in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes before service rather than attacking it with heat; the texture will return.

   Without an ice cream maker, freeze the base in a shallow metal pan and beat it thoroughly with a fork or hand mixer every 30 minutes for about 3 hours. The grain will be slightly coarser, but the fleurette added at service softens it honestly.
3. 3

   Poach the peaches

   Combine the 710 ml water and 300 g sugar in a saucepan. Scrape in the vanilla seeds, add the pod, and simmer for 5 minutes. Halve the peaches along their seams, remove the stones, and lower the halves into the syrup. Cover them with a cartouche, a round of parchment set directly on the liquid, and poach at the barest tremble for 6 to 12 minutes. They are ready when a knife enters without force but the halves still hold clean edges. Slip off the skins while warm, return the peaches to the syrup, cool, and refrigerate.

   A very ripe peach may need only 3 minutes in the syrup. If its edge begins to fray, lift it immediately and cool it on a plate. Ça se rattrape: once cold, return it briefly to chilled syrup for the vanilla perfume without further cooking.
4. 4

   Prepare the service

   Chill four shallow glass coupes for at least 20 minutes. Drain the peach halves and blot them carefully, because syrup on their surfaces will dissolve the spun sugar. Cover the work surface with parchment. Extend two wooden spoon handles over the counter edge, anchor them securely, and rub the exposed handles with the neutral oil. Set two forks beside them. Every tool used for spinning must be completely dry.

5. 5

   Loosen with fleurette

   Put the strawberry ice in a chilled bowl and work it briefly with a sturdy spatula. Fold in the cold crème fleurette in three additions, stopping when the ice is velvety, vividly strawberry-scented, and soft enough to mound. Do not whip the cream, and do not let the mixture become pourable. If it softens too far, freeze the bowl for 10 to 15 minutes and fold once more. Ça se rattrape. Fill each chilled coupe three quarters full, then set one peach half on top, rounded side upward. Hold the assembled coupes in the freezer while the sugar is spun, no longer than 10 minutes.

6. 6

   Spin the sugar

   Combine the 150 g sugar and 60 ml water in a small stainless-steel saucepan. Heat gently until clear, washing any stray crystals from the sides with a wet pastry brush. Once the syrup boils, stop stirring and cook it to 155 to 160°C, when it is pale amber. If crystals begin forming before the syrup colors, cover the pan for 30 seconds so condensation washes them down. If it seizes completely, remove it from the heat, let it cool, add the extra water, and dissolve it again. Never add water to hot caramel. Remove the pale caramel from the heat and wait about 1 minute, until a fork lifted from it trails fine threads. Hold two forks back to back, dip their tips into the caramel, and sweep them briskly over the oiled handles. If the sugar falls in droplets, wait a few seconds; if it forms thick ropes, warm it for 5 seconds.

   Spun sugar causes serious burns. Wear long sleeves, keep hands clear of the threads until they are cool and brittle, and keep everyone else away from the station.
7. 7

   Veil and serve

   Gather the cooled threads lightly between dry fingers and divide them into four loose veils. Set one veil over each peach without pressing it into the damp fruit. Bring the coupes straight to the table. If humidity makes a veil collapse, discard it and spin a fresh one from the remaining warm caramel; damp sugar cannot be dried back into threads. This last-second fragility is not decoration added to the dish. It is the dish. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Fraises des bois are tiny and intensely perfumed. Frozen berries are entirely suitable, and the source itself permits four-seasons strawberries when the Alpine fruit cannot be had. Choose fragrance before size or appearance.
• •The source calls for crème crue, genuinely raw cream. Use pasteurized crème fleurette or full-fat heavy cream at home, preferably not ultra-pasteurized, and leave it uncooked and unwhipped. This is the deliberate safety change; the cream’s fresh dairy aroma and fluid texture remain.
• •This dish truly needs a peach that smells of peach and can hold a clean half. A hard, cottony winter peach will not improve in syrup. Wait for good fruit rather than asking vanilla and sugar to impersonate the season.
• •The spun-sugar quantity makes more than four veils because a shallow spoonful cannot spin into long threads. That excess is equipment physics, not brigade abundance. Let leftovers harden, then dissolve them in hot water for easy cleaning.
• •Humidity is the enemy. Spin the sugar after the coupes are assembled, never refrigerate the finished veil, and serve within minutes. Patience belongs in the sorbet and the poaching; speed belongs only at the finish.

Advance Preparation

• •Freeze the ice cream maker canister according to its instructions, commonly at least 24 hours before churning.
• •The strawberry ice can be churned up to 2 days ahead. Press parchment against its surface, cover it, and soften it in the refrigerator before adding the fleurette.
• •The peaches can be poached 1 day ahead and chilled in their vanilla syrup. Drain and blot them only when the coupes are being assembled.
• •Chill the coupes earlier in the day, but spin no sugar ahead. Once exposed to refrigerator moisture or a damp peach, the threads collapse.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 255g)