Chef Juliette
Various Almond Preparations
Five almond preparations, one discipline: remove the skins cleanly, dry every kernel through, then cut, toast, or cloak it in pale caramel without letting its fragrant oils escape.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Pommes à la Condé
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2595, Pommes à la Condé, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Four whole apples, vanilla-poached until tender but intact, sit proudly on sweet Condé rice beneath a Kirsch-apricot gloss, with jewel-red cherries and green angelica marking the classical garnish.
Desserts
French
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
35 min cook•2 hr 30 min total
Yield4 servings
Pommes à la Condé (vanilla-poached apples on sweet rice) teaches the discipline of pocher au sirop, poaching in syrup: the liquid must barely tremble. A rolling boil batters the peeled fruit, opens its sides, and turns an elegant whole apple into compote. Gentle heat carries the vanilla through while the flesh remains tender and intact.
The book assumes that the vanilla sweet rice and Kirsch-flavoured apricot syrup from Apricots à la Condé (No. 2551) are already waiting, along with a buttered border mould and enough hands to manage a service platter. Here the quantity becomes four apples, the speciality mould gives way to a damp spoon and an ordinary bowl, and a narrow saucepan plus parchment lid keeps the fruit evenly surrounded by syrup. The mould was brigade scaffolding. The sweet rice, whole-fruit poach, candied garnish, and brilliant apricot coating are the dish, so they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When it comes together, the apples gleam above a creamy vanilla rice border, cherries burn ruby against the ivory, and strips of angelica bring the green accent the preparation has always worn. Guard the tremble during poaching. That is the one step that decides the dish.
Pommes à la Condé belongs to the Parisian classical entremets repertoire, where à la Condé identifies syrup-poached fruit presented with vanilla-scented sweet rice and a brilliant fruit glaze. The name is not a claim of origin in an apple-growing province; it comes from the courtly naming language attached to the Condé house, while the practical preparation moved readily from grand dining rooms to bourgeois tables because both rice and fruit could wait for service. Apples became one member of a whole Condé family that also welcomed apricots, peaches, and pears, with the garnish changing less than the fruit.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
prepared vanilla-flavoured sweet rice
Quantity
2½ cups (590 ml / 560 g), prepared as part of Apricots à la Condé (No. 2551)
cooled until firm enough to shape
prepared Kirsch-flavoured apricot syrup
Quantity
½ cup (120 ml / 135 g), prepared as part of Apricots à la Condé (No. 2551)
firm cooking apples
Quantity
4 medium, about 1½ pounds (680 g) total
water
Quantity
4 cups (950 ml / 950 g)
granulated sugar
Quantity
2 cups (475 ml / 400 g)
vanilla bean
Quantity
1
split lengthwise
glacé cherries
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 55 g)
halved if large
candied angelica
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 25 g)
cut into narrow diamonds
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| prepared vanilla-flavoured sweet ricecooled until firm enough to shape | 2½ cups (590 ml / 560 g), prepared as part of Apricots à la Condé (No. 2551) |
| prepared Kirsch-flavoured apricot syrup | ½ cup (120 ml / 135 g), prepared as part of Apricots à la Condé (No. 2551) |
| firm cooking apples | 4 medium, about 1½ pounds (680 g) total |
| water | 4 cups (950 ml / 950 g) |
| granulated sugar | 2 cups (475 ml / 400 g) |
| vanilla beansplit lengthwise | 1 |
| glacé cherrieshalved if large | ¼ cup (60 ml / 55 g) |
| candied angelicacut into narrow diamonds | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 25 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •3-quart (2.8 L) narrow saucepan, about 7 to 8 inches (18 to 20 cm) wide
- •Parchment paper for the cartouche
- •Apple corer or small melon baller
- •10 to 11-inch (25 to 28 cm) round serving platter
- •4-inch (10 cm) bowl for shaping the rice border
- •Small offset spatula or dessert spoon
- •Pastry brush
- •Instant-read thermometer, optional
Instructions
- 1
Ready the Condé components
Have the vanilla-flavoured sweet rice and Kirsch-flavoured apricot syrup from Apricots à la Condé (No. 2551) finished before starting the apples. Keep the rice covered and cool, but not icy, so it will shape without cracking. Keep the apricot syrup covered until glazing.
- 2
Build the vanilla syrup
Combine the water and sugar in a narrow, deep saucepan just wide enough to hold the apples. Scrape in the vanilla seeds, add the pod, and bring the syrup to a full boil, stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Boil for 2 minutes, then lower the heat until the surface barely moves. The brief boil dissolves the sugar; the gentler temperature is for the fruit.
- 3
Trim the apples
Peel each apple smoothly from stem to base. Use an apple corer or melon baller from the blossom end to remove the core without cutting through the stem end, then pare the base just enough for the apple to stand. Lower each apple into the warm syrup as soon as it is peeled so the flesh does not discolor.
- 4
Poach at a tremble
Cut a cartouche, a parchment lid, to fit inside the saucepan and lay it directly over the apples. Hold the syrup between 180 and 185°F (82 and 85°C), with only an occasional lazy bubble, and turn the apples gently with two spoons every 5 minutes. Begin testing after 18 minutes; a thin skewer should enter the thickest part with slight resistance, usually after 20 to 30 minutes. Remove each apple as it becomes ready. If a side begins to split, lift that apple out immediately and let it cool with the split facing downward. Ça se rattrape: the glaze will seal the surface, and the damaged side can face the centre of the platter.
Equal-sized apples matter more than an exact clock. If one softens first, take it out; making the others wait will not improve it. - 5
Cool without collapse
Set the apples upright on a rack over a tray and leave them until completely cool. Strain and reserve a little vanilla syrup for adjusting the glaze, then save the remainder for another batch of fruit. Do not leave the cooked apples soaking while they cool; hot syrup keeps tenderizing them after the pan leaves the stove.
- 6
Shape the rice border
Set an inverted 4-inch (10 cm) bowl in the centre of a 10 to 11-inch (25 to 28 cm) round serving platter. Spoon the prepared vanilla rice from Apricots à la Condé (No. 2551) around it, forming an even border about 2 inches (5 cm) wide and 1½ inches (4 cm) high. Smooth the top and sides with a spoon dipped in cold water, then lift away the bowl. If the border slumps, chill the platter for 15 minutes and shape it again. A speciality border mould saves a few movements, nothing more.
Make four shallow hollows in the top of the rice before placing the apples. They need secure seats, not balancing lessons. - 7
Glaze and finish
Set the four cooled apples upright and evenly spaced on the rice border. Arrange the glacé cherries around their bases and place the angelica diamonds between them. Warm the Kirsch-flavoured apricot syrup from Apricots à la Condé (No. 2551) only until fluid, then brush it generously over the apples, rice, cherries, and angelica. If it is too stiff to brush, loosen it with a teaspoon of reserved vanilla syrup; if it runs straight off, let it cool for a minute before continuing. Serve cool rather than refrigerator-cold, while the rice is creamy and the vanilla remains fragrant. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose firm, evenly sized apples that keep their shape when cooked. Reinette is splendid when available; Braeburn, Pink Lady, or firm Golden Delicious will also behave. A mealy apple collapses before the syrup reaches its centre.
- •Use the narrowest saucepan that holds all four apples without crowding. A broad pot demands far more syrup and still leaves the fruit bobbing above it; the parchment cartouche handles the last little gap.
- •Candied angelica is not a decorative whim. Its herbal sweetness and clear green colour belong to the preparation, so buy the proper confection from a French or British baking supplier. Fresh angelica, celery, or green peel does not replace it.
- •Kirsch means dry cherry eau-de-vie, not sweet cherry liqueur. Its clean cherry perfume keeps the apricot glaze from becoming heavy, and only a modest quantity is needed in the referenced preparation.
- •Sugar and rice do most of the work here, which is why this grand-looking dessert remains sensible for a home table. The cherries and angelica are used sparingly and keep well for the next classical pudding.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare the vanilla sweet rice and Kirsch-flavoured apricot syrup from Apricots à la Condé (No. 2551) up to one day ahead. Their preparation time is separate from the times given here. Refrigerate both covered, then let the rice stand for about 20 minutes before shaping.
- •The apples can be poached up to 8 hours ahead. Cool them completely, brush them lightly with reserved vanilla syrup, cover without pressing plastic against their surfaces, and refrigerate.
- •The rice border may be shaped and the fruit arranged up to 2 hours before serving. Add the final glaze, cherries, and angelica after chilling, then let the finished platter stand for 20 minutes so it reaches a cool, creamy serving temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 345g)
Calories
530 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
60 mg
Sodium
70 mg
Total Carbohydrates
106 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
84 g
Protein
6 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Entremets (Sweets) - Hot Fruit Entremets
Browse the full collection
Chef Juliette
Various Preparations of Filberts and Hazel-nuts
A pastry pantry lesson in one tray: filberts warmed only until their red skins release, rubbed clean, cooled, and chopped into a fragrant mise-en-place for cakes, creams, pralines, and petits fours.
Chef Juliette
The Buttering and Glazing of Moulds
The smallest pâtisserie discipline decides whether a cake leaves its mould intact: clarified butter in every corner, followed by the lightest veil of dry flour or fécule.
Chef Juliette
How to Beat the Whites of Eggs
Four whites, one spotless bowl, and a patient change of speed: whisk gently until loosened, then briskly to glossy stiffness, with powdered sugar waiting if the foam begins to granulate.