Chef Juliette
Flan aux Carottes
A pale short-paste shell holds silken, lightly sweet carrot purée beneath neat glazed half-discs, their butter syrup catching the light: a classical tart poised between vegetable course and sweet.
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Bananas à la Bourdaloue
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2561, Bananas à la Bourdaloue, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Vanilla-poached bananas lie between two thin layers of frangipane in a pale Bourdaloue crust, finished with crushed macaroons, butter, and a quick bronzed gratin. Barely tremble the syrup, and the fruit stays whole.
Pastries & Cookies
French
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
Budget Friendly
45 min
Active Time
55 min cook•3 hr total
YieldOne 9-inch (23 cm) tart, 6 servings
Bananes à la Bourdaloue (vanilla-poached banana tart) teaches restraint before anything else: the syrup must barely tremble once the fruit enters. A hard simmer takes a ripe banana to purée before you can turn it, while a gentle poach perfumes it with vanilla and leaves it whole enough to carry between two layers of crème frangipane (almond pastry cream). That poach is the one true thing to know before you touch the pan.
The source sends the cook to Apricots à la Bourdaloue (No. 2549) for its pale flawn crust, thin crème frangipane enriched with crushed macaroons, layered fruit, and macaroon-butter gratin (a quickly browned top). It assumed a pastry bench with those parts waiting, syrup held for service, and a salamander for rapid colouring. At home, a 9-inch tart tin, a shallow pan, and the broiler do the same work. A large quantity of held syrup and separate hands for pastry, cream, and fruit are brigade scaffolding, so those go; the pale shell, two thin cream layers, delicate poach, and quick gratin stay, because they are the dish.
One cook, one stove, one evening. Follow the cited preparation whole and change only the fruit, exactly as the entry commands. Watch the syrup more closely than the clock; the moment the bananas yield slightly but still lift cleanly, they are ready.
À la Bourdaloue belongs to the pastry shops of Paris and takes its name from rue Bourdaloue, though accounts differ on which shop first attached the street name to the preparation. Pears became its most familiar fruit, but the classical repertoire treated Bourdaloue as a method as much as a single tart: poached fruit, crème frangipane, crushed almond macaroons, butter, and a quick gratin. The banana version shows the method moving through the grand kitchen's fruit repertoire, changing the fruit while keeping the Parisian structure intact.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Apricots à la Bourdaloue
Quantity
1 tart-sized preparation Apricots à la Bourdaloue (No. 2549)
followed exactly with the vanilla-poached bananas replacing its apricots
just-ripe medium bananas
Quantity
4 medium (about 1¼ pounds / 560 g unpeeled; about 15½ ounces / 440 g peeled)
peeled immediately before poaching
water
Quantity
2 cups (480 ml / 480 g)
granulated sugar
Quantity
1 cup (240 ml / 200 g)
pure vanilla extract
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 10 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Apricots à la Bourdalouefollowed exactly with the vanilla-poached bananas replacing its apricots | 1 tart-sized preparation Apricots à la Bourdaloue (No. 2549) |
| just-ripe medium bananaspeeled immediately before poaching | 4 medium (about 1¼ pounds / 560 g unpeeled; about 15½ ounces / 440 g peeled) |
| water | 2 cups (480 ml / 480 g) |
| granulated sugar | 1 cup (240 ml / 200 g) |
| pure vanilla extract | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 10 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •9-inch (23 cm) loose-bottomed tart tin
- •Wide 3-quart (2.8 litre) shallow saucepan
- •Broad slotted spatula
- •Wire rack set over a rimmed tray
- •Aluminium foil for shielding the crust
Instructions
- 1
Ready the cited base
Prepare Apricots à la Bourdaloue (No. 2549) exactly as its own entry directs, stopping only at the point where its poached apricot halves would be set over the lower layer of cream. Keep the flawn crust pale, the lower cream thin, and the remaining cream, crushed macaroons, and melted butter ready. The cross-reference carries those formulas whole; this entry changes only the fruit. Position an oven rack about 6 inches (15 cm) below the broiler, but leave the broiler off for now.
- 2
Build vanilla syrup
Combine the water and sugar in a wide, shallow saucepan. Bring them to a boil, stirring only until the sugar dissolves, then lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. The boiling belongs before the fruit, not after it; once the bananas enter, the surface must barely move.
- 3
Poach bananas gently
Peel the bananas and lower them whole into the syrup in a single layer. Hold the liquid just below a simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, turning each banana once with two spoons, until its surface yields slightly but the fruit still supports its own weight. If the syrup begins bubbling hard, pull the pan from the heat immediately. If a banana starts to split, lift it out and leave it untouched while it cools; set the split side downward in the tart later. Ça se rattrape.
Use yellow bananas with firm flesh and only a few brown freckles. Heavily spotted fruit belongs in a cake; syrup will reduce it to purée. - 4
Drain without pressure
Lift the bananas with a broad slotted spatula and place them on a rack set over a tray. Let them drain and cool for 15 minutes. Do not blot, squeeze, or slice them thinly. The surface syrup must drain away so it cannot soak the crust, while the fruit itself remains plump. Reserve the vanilla syrup for another use.
- 5
Layer the fruit
At the fruit-setting stage of Apricots à la Bourdaloue (No. 2549), arrange the cooled bananas in one snug layer over the lower cream, following their natural curves. Leave them whole where they fit; if the tart's circle demands it, cut them crosswise into large pieces and use the trimmed ends to fill the gaps. Cover them with the upper layer directed by the cited preparation, spreading gently so you do not crush the fruit or force syrup into the crust.
- 6
Glaze the gratin
Complete the crushed-macaroon and melted-butter finish directed in Apricots à la Bourdaloue (No. 2549). Heat the broiler fully, then set the tart beneath it for 45 seconds to 2 minutes, watching without stepping away, until the top bronzes in small patches and the butter gives it a clear gloss. This brief upper heat is the home equivalent of the salamander. If the rim colours first, shield it with a ring of foil; if one patch catches too quickly, rotate the tart. Glaze quickly, because prolonged heat turns the bananas soft.
- 7
Rest and serve
Let the tart settle for 20 minutes so the cream holds cleanly around the fruit. Remove the tart ring, slide the Bourdaloue onto a plain platter, and cut it with a thin serrated knife, wiping the blade between slices. Serve warm or at room temperature, while the crust remains crisp and the vanilla-poached bananas are still distinct. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Bananas are ready for this tart when the peel is fully yellow and the flesh feels firm beneath your thumb. Green fruit stays chalky in the centre; heavily spotted fruit collapses before the vanilla reaches it.
- •The macaroons called for in Apricots à la Bourdaloue (No. 2549) are dry almond macaroons, not coconut macaroons and not filled Parisian macarons. Their crumbs absorb butter and form the gratin.
- •Keep the initial crust pale. Its final colour comes beneath the broiler, and a shell already deeply browned will taste scorched before the macaroon topping is ready.
- •Strain and chill the leftover vanilla syrup. It keeps for several days and can poach another batch of fruit, sweeten coffee, or moisten a plain sponge, but do not pour it into the tart.
Advance Preparation
- •The vanilla syrup can be made up to three days ahead and kept chilled. Reheat it until barely trembling before the bananas enter.
- •Apricots à la Bourdaloue (No. 2549) may be readied to its fruit-setting point earlier the same day. Keep its components as directed in that entry and assemble only after the bananas have drained completely.
- •The bananas may be poached up to 1 hour before assembly and left to drain at cool room temperature. Longer holding softens them.
- •The finished tart may be prepared up to 4 hours before serving. Cool it, keep it chilled, then let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before cutting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 170g)
Calories
550 calories
Total Fat
29 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
14 g
Cholesterol
120 mg
Sodium
160 mg
Total Carbohydrates
64 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
35 g
Protein
8 g
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