No. 3067

Omelet Stuffed with Preserves—Glazed

Omelette Fourree aux Confitures et Glacee

Prepare a sweet omelet with seven or eight eggs; as soon as it becomes firm roll it over on itself in the pan to detach it then bring it forward and fill it with currant jelly or apricot marmalade (No. 3675); shape it nicely, rolling it on itself lengthwise, and invert it quickly on a small long dish. Give it a pretty appearance, turning the ends under, and dredge over with powdered sugar; glaze the surface with an iron heated in the fire.

← No. 3066 Omelet Souffle with Vanilla Hot Entremets — Puddings, Fritters & Soufflés No. 3068 Omelet Stuffed with Strawberries →

For the Modern Kitchen

A French sweet omelet, rolled around jam and caramelized on top — the whole thing takes under five minutes once the pan is hot, so have the jelly warmed and the dish ready before the eggs go in.

The hinge: stop cooking earlyRanhofer says "as soon as it becomes firm," which means the surface is just set and the interior still creamy. A sweet omelet that browns or dries will crack when you roll it, and the sugar dredged on top will not save it.
A sweet omelet, definedThe eggs beaten with a little sugar, and often a spoonful of cream; the recipe itself gives no proportions. Sugar makes the eggs catch faster, so keep the heat at medium rather than high.
Seven or eight eggsThat is a large omelet for a long serving dish, enough for perhaps four to six as a dessert. In a 10-inch pan it will be thick; if your pan is smaller, work with four or five eggs and make two.
Warm the fillingCold jelly straight from the jar chills the center and stiffens as it hits the eggs. Loosen the currant jelly or apricot marmalade over low heat until it is just pourable, and use about half a cup.
"Glaze with an iron heated in the fire"This is the salamander — a flat iron disc on a handle, heated red and passed over the sugar to caramelize it. A kitchen blowtorch does the same work; a broiler set very close will also do it, though the omelet warms through in the process.
Powdered sugarConfectioners' sugar as sold now contains cornstarch and scorches unevenly. Superfine (caster) sugar melts into a cleaner glaze; some cooks trace a lattice by resting the hot iron in lines.
Marmalade referenceNo. 3675 is the book's own apricot marmalade. Any good thick apricot preserve serves, sieved if it has large pieces of fruit.
Serve immediatelyThe caramel softens within a few minutes and the omelet weeps. Glaze at the table's edge, not in advance.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer put this among the hot entremets of The Epicurean (1894), his enormous record of the kitchen at Delmonico's in New York. The jam-filled omelet belongs to a French repertoire of omelettes sucrées that runs through nineteenth-century manuals, distinguished from the risen omelette soufflée of the preceding entry by being cooked flat in a pan and rolled rather than baked. The glazing iron, or salamander, was a genuine piece of professional equipment: a heavy disc heated in the range until it glowed, then held just above sugar to caramelize it without further cooking what lay beneath. Its disappearance from home kitchens is why the instruction reads so strangely now, and why the blowtorch has quietly inherited the job.