Home › Apples à L'Americaine › Apples à L'Americaine (Pound of pulp put ten ounces)
Apples à L'Americaine (Pound of pulp put ten ounces)
pound of pulp put ten ounces of powdered lump sugar, and three whites of egg; beat them well with your hand for two hours, then drop them on cards with the edges turned up, or sheets of paper, on a baking tin. Sift sugar on the cards or paper before dropping them. Dry them gently on a stove, and when they slip off the paper they may be stored away in tin cases.
This is a fruit meringue confection: cooked apple pulp whipped with sugar and egg white, piped or dropped in small mounds and dried rather than baked. The whole success lies in how much air you can beat in and how slowly you dry it.
- ProportionsOne pound of apple pulp (about 2 cups of thick, cooked-down, sieved apple) to 10 oz sugar (about 1 1/4 cups) and 3 egg whites. The pulp must be stiff and nearly dry, or the mixture will never hold a shape.
- Powdered lump sugarLoaf sugar crushed and sifted fine. Caster or superfine sugar is the direct equivalent; ordinary granulated will leave the mixture gritty and slack.
- Two hours of beatingThe recipe directs beating with the hand for two hours, before mechanical beaters were in general use. A stand mixer will reach the same pale, stiff, self-supporting state considerably faster, though how much faster depends on the machine and the wetness of the pulp. Stop when a lifted spoonful holds a peak that does not weep.
- Cards with edges turned upStiff paper trays with folded rims, which kept the drops from spreading and let them be lifted whole. Parchment on a flat baking sheet does the job; a light dusting of sifted sugar underneath, as directed, still helps them release.
- "Dry them gently on a stove"In period confectionery this means the warm plate or drying closet of a range rather than direct heat. The book gives no temperature; in a modern oven the lowest available setting with the door propped slightly ajar is the nearest equivalent, and drying will take several hours depending on size. Any browning means the heat is too high.
- Judging when doneThe recipe's own test is the reliable one: they are ready when they lift cleanly off the paper. If the bases stick or feel tacky, they need longer at the same low heat.
- Raw egg whiteThese are dried, not baked to temperature. If that matters for your household, use pasteurised egg white; the whipping behaviour is much the same, though it may take a little longer to stiffen.
- Storage and yieldStorage -- "Tin cases" are tins with close-fitting lids, and they matter: sugar-heavy dried drops like these reabsorb moisture from humid air and go soft. The recipe gives no yield.