Bombe Andalouse

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1½-quart (1.5-liter) smooth stainless-steel bowl or bombe mould
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Digital sugar thermometer readable to 244°F (118°C)
• •Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
• •Blender or food processor
• •Ice cream maker or shallow metal freezing pan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Offset spatula or broad-backed spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the apricot base

   Combine the sugar and water for the apricot ice in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil without stirring, simmer for one minute, then remove it from the heat and cool for ten minutes. Blend the apricots with the syrup until completely smooth, then press the purée through a fine sieve. It should taste slightly sweeter and more vivid than you want at the table because freezing mutes fruit. Cover and chill for at least one hour.

2. 2

   Freeze the apricot ice

   Churn the cold apricot base until it is dense, smooth, and firm enough to hold a furrow from the paddle. Without an ice cream maker, freeze it in a shallow metal pan for 60 to 90 minutes, until the edges are solid and the centre is slushy, then process it until smooth. Freeze for another 45 minutes and process once more. If the ice feels granular, process it again while still pliable; the crystals will become fine enough to spread against the mould.

3. 3

   Clothe the mould

   Freeze a smooth 1½-quart metal bowl for 30 minutes. Chemiser le moule (clothe the mould) using the even-coating principle in Another Method of Preparing Aspics de Filets de Soles (No. 916): press about three quarters of the apricot ice over the bottom and sides in an even layer ½ to ⅝ inch thick, taking it cleanly to the rim. Reserve the remainder in the freezer. If the ice slides down, both bowl and ice are too warm; chill them for ten minutes and begin again. Patch thin spots with more apricot ice, then freeze the shell for 45 minutes.

   Turn the bowl as you work and inspect the rim from every side. An even shell unmoulds cleanly and gives each slice the same balance of apricot and vanilla.
4. 4

   Cook the pâte à bombe

   Put the sugar and water for the pâte à bombe in a small heavy saucepan and heat without stirring to 244°F (118°C). As the syrup approaches temperature, beat the yolks with the vanilla seeds until pale. With the mixer running on low, pour the hot syrup in a thin stream down the inside of the bowl, never directly onto the beaters. Increase the speed and whisk for 7 to 10 minutes, until the mixture has tripled in volume, falls in a thick ribbon, and the bowl feels completely cool. If it remains warm, do not add the cream. Set the bowl over cold water and keep whisking until it reaches 75°F (24°C) or cooler. Ça se rattrape. A few cooked threads can be strained out while the mixture is still fluid, but a fully scrambled base must be remade.

   Once the syrup boils, leave it alone. If sugar crystals collect on the pan wall, wash them down with a pastry brush dipped in water.
5. 5

   Fold in the cream

   Reserve 2 tablespoons of the cold cream, then whip the remainder to soft peaks that bend when the whisk is lifted. Fold one quarter into the cold pâte à bombe to loosen it, then fold in the rest in two additions with broad strokes from the bottom of the bowl. Stop as soon as no white streaks remain. If the cream was taken too far and looks grainy, fold in the reserved liquid cream a teaspoon at a time until it becomes supple again.

6. 6

   Fill and freeze

   Spoon the vanilla pâte à bombe into the frozen apricot shell, pressing it gently toward the sides so no large air pockets remain, but taking care not to flatten the foam. Leave ½ inch at the rim and freeze for 30 minutes, until the surface has begun to set. Soften the reserved apricot ice briefly in the refrigerator if necessary, then spread it over the vanilla centre to close the bombe. Cover the surface and wrap the bowl well. Freeze for at least six hours, preferably overnight.

7. 7

   Unmould and slice

   Chill the serving platter for 20 minutes. Unwrap the bombe, dip the metal bowl to just below its rim in warm water for five to eight seconds, dry it, and invert it onto the platter. If it refuses to release, repeat for another five seconds rather than pulling at the dessert. Should the shell soften during unmoulding, return the bombe to the freezer for 15 minutes. Let it stand for 8 to 10 minutes before slicing with a knife warmed in hot water and wiped dry. Apricot outside, vanilla within. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Apricots must carry the shell. Use ripe, fragrant fruit in season or unsweetened frozen apricots picked at their peak; the classical pantry has always understood that honest preserved fruit is better than tired fresh fruit.
• •Use a smooth metal bowl rather than glass. Metal freezes the shell quickly, responds predictably to the warm-water unmoulding, and gives you the clean dome the bombe requires.
• •A thermometer earns its place here. Syrup below 244°F (118°C) leaves the pâte à bombe loose, while syrup taken much higher sets too quickly and forms hard sugar threads.
• •Use pasteurized yolks when serving children, pregnant guests, older adults, or anyone with reduced immunity. Hot syrup cooks the yolks, but it may not heat every part of the mixture evenly.
• •Serve the Bombe Andalouse without fruit, mint, sauce, or spun sugar. Apricot and vanilla are the arrangement, and adding decorations only muffles its clarity.

Advance Preparation

• •The apricot ice can be prepared up to three days ahead. Press parchment against its surface, cover it well, and soften it in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes before clothing the mould.
• •The assembled bombe may be frozen up to five days ahead. Once it is solid, wrap the entire bowl twice so the cream cannot take on freezer aromas.
• •The bombe can be unmoulded onto its chilled platter up to one hour before serving and returned to the freezer. Give it 8 to 10 minutes at room temperature before slicing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 185g)