Abricots Meringués

Abricots meringués (poached apricots on sweet rice beneath meringue) teaches a useful discipline: gentle heat must finish the inside before it flatters the outside. The rice should be creamy but firm enough to carry the fruit, the apricots tender but still themselves, and the meringue softly set beneath its pale golden shell.

The book's kitchen expected vanilla sweet rice, poached fruit, and Ordinary Meringue (No. 2382) waiting in separate bowls, with enough hands to pipe a Charlotte-shaped dome for formal service. One cook needs less ceremony. This four-serving version uses roughly half the finished meringue component, a shallow gratin dish, and a simple ring of rosettes. The brigade decoration is scaffolding and can shrink; the rice, apricot halves, domed meringue, mild bake, and alternating jams are the dish and must stay.

Use a domestic oven, not a torch pretending to be a salamander. The source asks the oven to cook the meringue slightly, not merely colour it. That gentle bake is the step that decides everything: if the shell darkens before the centre sets, lower the heat and shield it, then carry on.