Pommes à la Crème

Yet another apple recipe. I’ve never fried fruit, nor have I flamed booze before. I was quite nervous about this, all the other times I’ve had fire in my kitchen, it’s been unintentional and thus rather panic-inducing. Still, I thoroughly dampened a tea-towel, put it in arm’s reach of the cooker and steeled myself. (I don’t have any pets or small children, but we should all practise safe flambé.)

This recipe is from X Marcel Boulestin’s  Simple French Cooking for English Homes (Thanks to Quadrille for the review copy).

Notes

• As I was only making a small portion of this, I used just a few slices from a windfall.
• You’re probably supposed to peel the apple, but I can rarely be bothered to do this.
• I didn’t use apricot jam, because I didn’t have any. I used bergamot instead (which I acquired during an burst of impractical over-excitement in an Iranian grocer). But really, I think there is scope to use whatever jam you have around (although marmalade would probably be over-powering). I think it possible to not add jam at all and simply have a smaller amount of sauce.

Frying apple – at the unpromising-looking stage.

• I think it would be possible to not to flame the rum at all and simply allow the sauce to reduce through heating.
• I used salted butter which I think was an improvement to the flavour, although I’m fairly sure it was not what the Boulestin had in mind
• As I didn’t have any cream at home, I ate it with some yoghurt. I wonder if it would be overly rich with cream – something to think about when planning a menu.

Results

This pudding is magic.  It’s quick, tastes absolutely great and is simple to do for a large or small number of people. The blend of flavours was clear and undemanding, but not overpowering. I’m sure I will make this again and again.

Crème’d by Elly

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