The abundance of stone fruits is making me go crazy. My head spins thinking about new recipes, how to visually display them, the vibrant colors, flavor combinations. My last three recipes have featured stone fruits, so this time I just had to take it slow and make something rather simple. Something like pate de fruit which I think is a perfect way to utilize stone fruits and yes, get an enormous sugar high!
This recipe makes a lot of pate de fruit so be ready to give some away. It will keep really well for days (the amount of sugar and the tartaric acid solution helps with that) but still... I don't think a family can handle so much sugar. Not even mine! So get out your pretty food packaging boxes or bags and make a list of friends and family to share these with!
Apricot and Vanilla Bean Pate de Fruit
Makes half a sheetpan
750 grams apricot puree
2 vanilla beans
18 grams yellow pectin
75 grams sugar
150 grams glucose
750 grams sugar
6 grams tartaric acid solution (equal parts water and tartaric acid)
12 grams peach liquer
Place the apricot puree and the vanilla bean seeds into a large pot with tall sides. Heat to about 45 degrees celsius (about 113 F).
In the meantime, mix the yellow pectin and the 75 grams of sugar in a bowl. Make sure they are thoroughly combined. If there are clusters of yellow pectin left unmixed with the sugar, this will leave undissolved gummy pieces of pectin in the finished product. So once the puree is warm, add the yellow pectin and sugar to it and whisk very well.
Bring the mixture to a boil and add the rest of the sugar and the glucose. Whisk well and let it boil and cook to 106 degrees Celsius (223F). Make sure to whisk often.
Turn the heat off and add the liquer and the tartaric acid solution. Whisk.
Pour into a half sheetpan lined with parchment paper or silicon mat. Let it set for about 2 hours or until it is completely cool and it has hardened.
Cut squares or different shapes and roll in sugar. Serve immediately. The uncut pate de fruit will keep for a few days lightly covered with plastic wrap. If you are in a humid climate like me, you might notice that it turns very sticky. That's from the humidity in the air melting the sugar.
Happy July 4th weekend to all of you and I will see you next week!
7.03.2008
Apricot and Vanilla Bean Pate de Fruit
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42 comments:
What I want to know is this:
How many of your readers make these recipes? Not that they can't or shouldn't, but when I was training pastry cooks at Citizen Cake to make pate fruit they had a lot of problems.
I agree about how wonderful they are though!
ps I always used lemon juice instead of tartaric acid and it worked fine. and I never used liqueur, but I can see why, depending on your fruit puree source, it would be helpful.
pps. your photos are getting outrageously good!
Have never been a fan of pate de fruit as it's always a little too sweet for me, but I do appreciate the skill and effort required to make a good batch of them. Yours look great - love that tanned orangey colour.
Your photos are wonderful!! Love the intensity of those colours!! I've never made them before, but I've had white peach pate a fruit which were simply divine!! I might try this recipe but substitute the apricot with another fruit (apricots are not in season here). I just think that I'll finish them all sooner than I can give them out..I know that they can be way too sweet for most people, but I think you know the name of my blog!
They are really great, little jewel squares!
I love pate de fruit and I haven't even tasted home-made ones! Love the intense colour...
Aran, I going back to sleep(5:00 AM here) and if my dreams are half as beautiful as these pictures of yours i would be a very happy girl. absolutely stunning............
Another fab post Aran, you make me feel happy with these glorious colours and sweet treats!
Hi Shuna-
Yes, I should have mentioned the lemon juice. Actually, I made some "thin" pate de fruit (more like a jam) and I used lemon juice instead.
A blogger actually tried to make pate de fruit not long ago and she asked me about the method but I think she was unsuccessful (I think wrong pectin). I have had others make macarons following my recipe and they have turned out well... I'm not sure that my blog is a recipe book for most people. That's also not my intention most of the time, if you know what I mean. It's more my outlet. But I do love it if someone has tried a recipe and they like it and they ask me questions...
Thank you very much for the compliment, it means the world to me coming from you!
You're so lucky to have stone fruits already!
As always, just fabulous photos.
I have just discovered your blog - which I find incredible and inspiring - and will definitely be trying some of your recipes. Where do you find ingredients such as glucose, yellow pectin, etc.? Do you have an online source you'd recommend? Thanks -- really beautiful work!
CFF- Thank you very much. My source for these specialty ingredients is www.lepicerie.com. I get most of my stuff from them.
aran, ¿por qué sabes hacer tantas cosas? Me dejas impresionada. Hablas un idioma diferente y aún y todo disfruto con tus palabras.
(y gracias por tus comentarios; siempre me hacen sonreir)
:)
Oh! Definitely bookmarking this! I had been looking at recipes from Martha Stewart, but they just didn't seem to be what I was looking for. Your recipe does. I can't wait to try this...along with all your other recipes. :)
Aran,
Wonderful.
I've made it before and failed measurably. Since then, my husband like to buy fruit pate for me from French bakery in Los Gatos, CA (Fleur de Cocoa). It's very good, but I think it's very expensive. This tiny pate cost about 65 cents + tax each. Do you think it's expensive or normal?
Now, that you post the recipe, I can try to make it again. Hope it will be successful this time!
Btw, I made the Plump Mousse cake that you've posted yesterday. I need one more step, then I'll post it hopefully today. Thanks for the recipe and the wonderful idea as always!
Happy Fourth of July!
Cheers.
Love the colors on these Aran! Again, I wish I was your neighbor so I could taste your treats daily!
miam. you are so creative aran, i love all your recipes. so mmm, any chance there might be a book coming soon?! I'll put my order in for my copy now! px
Oh, I love these. LOVE them! What a fun, delicious way of having fruit, Aran!
I grew up in Apt, the pate de fruits city of the South and I consider medication. You know: pms, nostalgia, memory boost..sugar high! Love the use of apricots in these!
so pretty, (i seem to say that a lot here)! they look like little frost covered gems. gorgeous.
When I was little I had a friend that would allways take a box of pate de fruits for her mid-morning snack. But I don't remember her being as gorgeous as yours!
Que cosa más ricaaaaaa!!!! Albaricoques y vainilla, tienen que estar estupendos!!!!
Besos,
Ana
Gorgeous. I can see myself improve as a cook, baker, and amateur photographer every day, and I love having your posts to aspire to. Doubtful I'll ever get to your level of skill, but I find great inspiration here nonetheless.
I agree with Shuna your photos are so incredible...very professional and you make it all so appetizing!
The things you do, make me proud to be a pastry chef. I visit your blog daily and it keeps me refreshed and reminds me of why I love my job! I possibly tell you how much this means to me. You are an inspiration.
PS...as an aside...I'm also the mom of a 3 y/o boy and I love how you've managed to make your blog about beautiful food and the family that makes you who you are.
PPS...to the people that have problems with the Pate de Fruit not being firm enough. You can sometimes melt it back down and cook it a little longer. You can also just enjoy it as jam. My son loves it with peanut butter! Also, if people can't find the tartaric acid, Citric acid works like a charm too and some cake decorating/candy supply places actually carry it!
Hi Aran...I dare say, I might love pate de fruit more than I love macarons.
I appreciate your comment about your blog not being intended to be a recipe book for most readers. That is how I feel about my blog as well, more as an outlet for your own pastry creativity and musings.
Certainly, pate de fruit are finicky to make successfully just by following a recipe because it depends on the pectin, the puree, the thermometer, etc! I only began to consistently make them right when I stopped relying on the thermometer and learned to just go by feel and eye to know when they are cooked just right. Yours look fabulous.
Hi Aran. I am continually amazed by what you're doing in your kitchen and by your photos. Love it!!
Eileen (passions to pastry)
www.livingtastefully.com
Never had apricot pate de fruit, but I'm a huge fan of the stuff! I make passion fruit pate de fruit often... amazing I have teeth left! Beautiful pics!
This is one of your loveliest spreads ever (well, at least in the last 6 months since I started following your blog).
Eye candy as well as candy!
Yum! I have never made apricot ones, I usually do blackberry.
I will have to try these.
Aran-Love the photos they are stunning. This is my kind of sweet and when the weather is not so humid I will give this a try. Why yellow pectin?
Hi Kim-
I wish I knew the chemichal composition of different pectins and be able to explain why exactly they are different, but I'm afraid I'm not expert in that. I use apple pectin for jam making but it never sets to the solid state that is needed for jellies. Or at least it has not worked for me with my recipes. I have always worked with yellow pectin for this kind of candy making. I know this is not a very thourough answer and I apologize for it... I tried to look it up online but the google search results were way too technical for anyone to understand!
Just for the record Aran, I not only use your site for recipes but inspiration... Everything is sooo beautiful, I only ever hope I do your recipes justice!!!
I am continually amazed at your photos and recipes! Always inspiring. Always beautiful.
ths is a sugar high waiting to happen :)
Aran,
last couple of tries I have been using apple pectin, I will get the yellow pectin and try again. These are beautiful and the flavors sound phenominal!!!!!! You are a goddess!
Carrie
Apricots! I love these photos and I can almost taste the tart-sweet morsels right now. Your blog makes me incredibly happy.
I've been very busy the last 10 days and have missed visiting your kitchen. All of your desserts with stone fruits are amazing.
These look amazingly wonderful! I would like to try the recipe but I have a few questions. I know glucose is sugar but in what form? Your blog is inspiring!
FitChick- Thank you! To answer your question, glucose is an inverted sugar like corn syrup. It avoids crystalization and keeps moisture. If you cannot find it, you can usually use light corn syrup instead.
Thank you for the info, so the glucose is a liquid. Also, the site L'Epicure is just what I was looking for!
Hi - I just found your blog. Very interesting! Thanks for sharing so much. Would you please clarify one thing for me since I'd like to make the pâte d'abricot et vanille:
when you say 6 grams of tartaric acid solution, are you saying 3g water + 3 g tartaric acid? Sorry for such a silly question, but I want to make sure it's not really 6 g water + 6g tartaric acid.... I'm not sure how critical these amounts are anyway, but just wanted to play it safe!
thanks again, diane
Hi Diane!
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to your question but I was out of town for a week with limited access to the internet. Yes, you are right. 6 grams of tartaric acid solution means 3 grams of water plus 3 grams of tartaric acid powder. usually, this is a mix that can be made in a larger quantity and kept in a glass jar with a tight lid so it doesn't have to be made every time. In my case, since I don't make pate de fruit often, I just measure enough for this recipe.
I hope that helps!
So beautiful. Looking at all the comments, I am curious to know your "tricks" for pate de fruit and your description of what to look for to create a stable beautiful product. I want to try these!
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