Friday, January 11, 2013

French Fridays with Dorie - Long and Slow Apples - Pommes Confites


Today the recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group are “Long and Slow Apples” - “Pommes Confites”.




The “Pommes Confites” are based on an early-20th-century recipe from Edouard Nignon's "L'Heptaméron des Gourmets". The original recipe calls for a twenty-hour preparation. The first ten hours were designed for baking and the additional ten hours for chilling the thinly sliced apples to a compacted, almost-candied state.
However, many people prefer to eat these buttery, caramelized apples while they are warm. You might wish to refer to this dish as the “Long and Slow Apples”, as Dorie calls them.




The recipe is fairly easy. All you need for this dish are thinly sliced apples, ground ginger and cardamom and some melted unsalted butter. I opted for homemade vanilla sugar and some cinnamon instead of the ground ginger and coriander and for crisp Granny Smith instead of Gala or Fuji apples that Dorie´s recipe calls for. Granny Smith are quite easy to find in stores around here at this time of year and I do like them for baking. Stack the thinly sliced apples in oven proof ramekins or cups, brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with the sugar and spices.

You will need cooks' professional-grade plastic wrap for cooking the apples. You can find that online or at restaurant supply stores. But you can also use a layer of unbleached parchment paper, then cover with aluminium foil, which is what I did. Place an additional ramekin, cup or plate on top to weigh down the apples while baking and cooling.




While the recipe for the Long and Slow Apples - Pommes Confites in my edition of  Dorie´s book calls for a baking time of four hours, the same recipe can be found at Epicurious and calls for a two hour baking time – mine were done at exactly two hours and I let them rest for two hours in the warm oven (with the weights on) before unmolding them onto plates. This seems to have been a good decision based on the kinds of apples I used and the way they tasted and looked when I served them. Pure bliss on a dessert plate.




You can serve the Long and Slow Apples - Pommes Confites for dessert with a some whipped cream, with yogurt or ice cream or even with a dollop of decadent and rich Crème Double (Clotted Cream)…




…and some homemade Vanilla Sauce which is what I did.




Decided to add "a touch of spring" to my plates by placing a red and white striped tulip on some of the plates - my favorite flower shop had so many irrestible Dutch tulips on display, I just could not resist them.

This is a wonderful recipe and all the apple lovers in my life were pleasantly surprised and utterly delighted with this dessert. No doubt whatsoever, there will be numerous sequels

To see how the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie prepared their Long and Slow Apples -Pommes Confites, please click here.





48 comments:

  1. I used granny smith´s too, but they didn´t come out as caramelized as yours! I´m jelous...jaja! You made the tallest one. It´s gorgeous Andrea!

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    1. Paula, thanks so much - I do like using Granny Smiths in my baking because they hold their shape well - even after a prologed time in the oven - they also taste terrific when baked and it turns out they were a good choice for this recipe.

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  2. A top tier desert, fit for the kings. Eating this desert is a culinary experience in itself !

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    1. Frédéric, merci mille fois pour ton très gentil commentaire! Je te souhaite une bonne fête de semaine!

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  3. How beautiful that turned out, the picture is gorgeous. This is a lovely dessert for any dinner party, and I really did not
    think it was too sweet, but I'll bet if you substitute splenda for the sugar that would be even better.

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    1. Nana: thanks you for the lovely comment - I have never tried Splenda for baking or cooking but would be curious to know how this dessert would turn out if you used it instead of the sugar.

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  4. I was also delighted with this one…it was an unexpected treat! Oh, that vanilla sauce sounds heavenly, and your apples came out picture perfect!! Have a wonderful weekend, Andrea!

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    1. Kathy, so nice that you also liked this apple dessert so much - it was rather good with that vanilla sauce.

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  5. Perfectly done! You must have a different version of this recipe book...some posts today state that their books say parchment should be used and don't mention plastic. And the spices in my book say coriander instead of cardamom and my baking time says 2 hours. Interesting. All those changes would have made the difference for me. Your version is beautifully done.

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    1. Krissy, I checked my book, it definitely says "four hours" - maybe it is a "European version...". But thanks for pointing that out - good to know.

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  6. Beautiful presentation. Your apples look delicious:) Love the picture with the beautiful tulip.

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    1. Geraldine, thanks - a lot of very colorful tulips from the Netherlands have made an appearance at my favorite flower shop - just could not resist adding a touch of spring to the dessert.

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  7. Your apples turned a beautiful color! I was feeling a little unexcited about this recipe, but I may try it now, after seeing your pictures.

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    1. Thank you - I am sure that your family would adore this dessert - one of my kids has designated this as the new "favorite dessert".

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  8. Vanilla sauce!! I wish I had thought of that.

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    1. You just cannot go wrong with vanilla sauce, at least at our house - it is always a nice addition to apple desserts.

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  9. Andrea your pommes confites are gorgeous! I wish you would share some photo info. Your pictures are so professional looking! We loved this one too. I didn't get the beautiful color on my apples though.

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    1. Guyla, I just thought that these little "apple towers" were pretty photogenic and had fun taking pictures.

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  10. Your photos of the pommes confites are terrific. Love your presentation with the vanilla sauce. Karen

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    1. Karen thank you - the vanilla sauce always seems to be such a nice addition to most apple desserts, just think of the "Apfelstrudel" with vanilla sauce, that is always an irrestible dessert combination.

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  11. Andrea- your apples & their photos are luscious! Vanilla sauce would be so perfect.

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    1. Berverly, vanilla sauce is nice with these apples but the double cream was also a nice addition and also liked by my faithful taste testers.

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  12. The caramelization on your apples is stunning. The vanilla sauce was a nice touch.

    I think I will have to give the 10 hour version a try. I learned so much from everyone's experiences this week.

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    1. Cher, thanks so much - I do not know whether ten hours are really necessary for this dessert, it was wonderful after two hours of baking and two hours of resting.

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  13. Wasn't this great? My guests who shared this with me said they would not have even dentified it as apple except tat I told them.

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    1. This was indeed a unique and delicious dessert - the apples did taste quite intriguing, I agree.

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  14. Beautiful photos and vanilla sauce???? Get in my face!!!! That sounds amazing. I wish I would have read this before I just ate my last ramekin with plain old whipped cream. Guess I know what I'm going to make with them next time! :)

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    1. Maggie, I am sure that you will make this wonderful dessert again - so to prepare a little vanilla sauce might be a good and delicious idea - it is an uncomplicated, delicious "side" to this dessert.

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  15. Andrea, is the reason that this was originally called Pommes Confites is that it really was a compacted almost-candied dessert? Because, in French, the name does not mean what the dessert really is. That's why I was a little confused as to what it was supposed to turn out to be. And, as Mardi pointed out, it's not a genuine confites. Your dessert is beautifully done and the topping makes it even better. Didn't know that Nignon wrote a cookbook.

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    1. Mary, yes the cookbook was first published in 1919 - a long time ago but it is still considered to be one of the best French cookbooks. Where the name originates, I do not really know but I suppose you are right, it makes sense to call these "Pommes Confites" as the techique of slow baking turns the apples into somthing candy like.

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  16. Your apples are a wonderful bronzed color. I liked this easy dessert and look forward to trying this with other spices (and toppings). Hope you have a good week, Andrea.

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    1. Betsy, thanks for the lovely comment - I added cinnamon because the kids love it so much and it is just a wonderful combination with the apples. But I am sure that other spices such as ginger, cardamom or corinander will taste equally as wonderful in this dish.

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  17. Beautiful as always, Andrea. I used homemade vanilla sugar in mine, too, but stuck with ginger and cardamom for the spices. I love your presentation and toppings.

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    1. Teresa, homemade vanilla sugar is the best - I have to make new one, just added the last of it to this dessert. I am sure that ginger and cardamom (the spices that the recipe actaully called for) were wonderful in this as well - I will have to try this dessert with different spices soon.

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  18. your stack of apples looks divine! lovely tulip also! :) see you next week!

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    1. Alice, thank you very much -the apples were a nice looking and tasting dessert and tulips are certainly always a wonderful sight at this time of year.

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  19. Simply beautiful and elegant. The ginger and coriander were okay, but I think I would prefer the sugar and cinnamon and definitely not put in the orange zest. Seeing how caramelized your apples turned out, I would like to do the 10 hour version next. Have a great week, Andrea.

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    1. Elaine, when I read through Dorie´s recipe for the first time, I knew that I would switch the spices and leave out the orange zest - sometimes it just turns bitter when baked even if you use organic oranges.

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  20. Oh my! These look ah-maz-ing! What a gorgeous dessert (although I'd happily manage these for breakfast and not feel too bad as it's fruit). Delicious photos too!

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    1. Hester, thanks so much - I am sure that these apples would equally be delicious for breakfast than they were for dessert.

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  21. Your apples look divine! Beautiful caramelization on them and I love the touch of Spring!

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    1. Renee, thanks so much for visiting my blog - we really enjoyed this apple dessert and the presentation was fun!

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  22. You really take great closeup shots! The apples have beautiful glaze and I love simple dessert like this. :)

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    1. Thanks so much, Nami - I must say that I am really looking forward to spring when I can take my food outside and take pictures with the morning or afternoon sunlight again.

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  23. Wonderful !!
    You could tell me what was the temperature of the oven please ?
    Thanks

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    1. Dear JPPreaux, the recipe in the book calls for very low temperature, it is 200 degrees Fahrenheit which is 95 degress Celsius - hope that helps! Sorry, the recipe is not on the blog, but as a member of the French Fridays with Dorie group, we are not posting the complete recipes.
      Thank you very much for your interest and your question - if you need further information, just let me know!
      Andrea

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  24. Thank you very much.
    I would have liked to post my cakes. I don't know how to do unless it is not possible ???

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    1. Dear JPPreaux, you are quite welcome - I am not quite sure what you mean by "posting cakes" - if you mean that you made this recipe and would like to post it, do go ahead - only the members of the "French Fridays with Dorie" online group who cook their way through each and every recipe in the book, have decided not to post the recipes itself - but you, of course, can!
      You can also contact me by mail at: andrea@thekitchenlioness.de for more questions or concerns - also in French if you prefer!
      Meilleures salutations,
      Andrea

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