Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (188 page)

4)
Baking and serving—5 to 7 minutes—oven preheated to 425 degrees

3 Tb sugar

The
canapés
in their baking dish

The drained poached pear-halves

The
sauce sabayon

The meringue mixture

½ cup sliced almonds

⅓ cup confectioner’s sugar in a fine-meshed sieve

A warm bowl for the sauce

(Although pears may be masked with meringue or baked ahead, they are best when assembled and baked at the last moment.) Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar over each
canapé,
and place a pear half, hollow-side up, on top. Fill hollow with a teaspoon of
sauce sabayon.
If necessary, beat the meringue mixture at high speed for a moment until it again forms stiff peaks. Mask each pear half with a large spoonful of meringue. Strew sliced almonds over each and sift on a light sprinkling of confectioner’s sugar. Place in upper third of preheated oven for about 5 minutes, until meringue and almonds have lightly browned. Meanwhile, gently warm the sauce to tepid and turn into warm bowl. Serve pears as soon as possible, passing the sauce separately.

MOUSSE D’ORANGES À L’ANANAS

[Molded Orange Mousse Garnished with
Pineapple and Candied Orange Peel]

When you want a beautiful dessert that is also light and as delicious as it is refreshing, this orange Bavarian cream without cream is a perfect answer.

For a 6-cup mold, serving 6 to 8

1)
Preliminaries

glazed pineapple—ananas glacé:

A small (8½ ounces) can of pineapple slices, or 4 slices and ½ cup juice

⅓ cup sugar

A small saucepan

A small bowl

¼ cup kirsch

Lay pineapple slices flat on cutting board, and slice in half parallel with board to make 2 rings rather than one; divide each into 16 wedges. Bring sugar to boil in pineapple juice, and when dissolved add the pineapple and boil 5 minutes, or until pineapple is beginning to turn a golden, light-caramel color. Drain. Place pineapple in bowl with kirsch, and return juice to pan.

glazed orange peel—zestes d’oranges glacés:

6 or more large, bright, juicy oranges

6 large, rectangular sugar lumps

Waxed paper

A wooden spoon

A 2½-quart stainless or enameled saucepan

Wash and dry oranges. Break sugar lumps in half. Over waxed paper, rub sugar lumps one at a time vigorously against the skin of 2 oranges, until all sides of lumps have absorbed as much oil as possible from the orange skins. Mash the sugar with the spoon and scrape into saucepan.

A vegetable peeler and a sharp chopping knife

A small saucepan with 2 cups water

A small bowl

⅔ cup sugar

½ cup water

The pan of pineapple juice

Remove zests (orange part of peel) from 2 of the other oranges, and cut into
julienne
strips 1½ inches
long and
¹
⁄
₁₆
inch wide. Drop into the pan of water and simmer 15 minutes; drain, rinse in cold water, and squeeze dry in paper towels. Place in small bowl. Stir sugar and water into pineapple juice, swirl over heat until sugar dissolves, then boil rapidly to the thread stage (230 degrees). Stir 2 tablespoons into the orange peel, reserve rest of syrup for the custard.

A 4-cup measure

1 lemon

2 packages (2 Tb) unfavored powdered gelatin in a 1-cup measure

Squeeze juice out of oranges and lemon and strain into measure, to make 2 cups. Pour ½ cup of juice into the gelatin, and stir a tablespoon of juice into the pineapple-sugar syrup to liquefy it.

2)
Making and molding the mousse

4 egg yolks

1 Tb cornstarch

The 2½-quart pan with the crushed sugar lumps

A wire whip or electric beater

The pineapple-sugar syrup

The orange and lemon juice

A wooden spoon

Beat the egg yolks and cornstarch with the crushed sugar for a minute or two until yolks are thick and sticky. Gradually beat in the pineapple-sugar syrup, and continue beating vigorously for 2 minutes. Beat in the orange juice. Set over moderate heat and stir slowly (2 strokes per second), reaching all over bottom of pan. As custard warms, it will become foamy, and when a faint breath of steam rises it is beginning to thicken. Continue stirring over heat until it thickens enough to coat spoon lightly; custard must not come to the simmer and scramble the yolks, but it must thicken.

The gelatin and orange juice mixture

Remove custard from heat and immediately scrape the gelatin mixture into the hot custard, beating vigorously to be sure gelatin dissolves completely.