No. 3194

"pain" of Apricots

Pain d'Abricots

Soften two ounces of gelatine in cold water and dissolve it in a gill of almond milk (No. 4) and a gill of syrup at thirty-two degrees; pass it at once through a fine colander into a tinned basin. Place in another vessel a pint and a half of fine apricot puree sweetened and flavored with a little kirsch; pour this puree in with the gelatine, and standing it on ice stir steadily until cold. As soon as it begins to thicken transfer it into a cylindrical jelly mold incrusted in chopped ice, keeping it thus for another hour and a half. When ready to serve unmold; surround the base with a circle of fine halved apricots covered with apricot marmalade (No. 3675) diluted with a little kirsch.

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's pain is a molded apricot cream set with gelatine and sliced like a loaf. Nothing here is difficult, but the gelatine quantity and the syrup notation both need translating before you start.

Gelatine, the hingeTwo ounces (about 57 g, roughly eight modern envelopes) reflects the gelatine of the 1890s, which was variable and generally weaker than today's standardized product; with modern 225-bloom powder it will give a rubbery, sliceable brick. For about 2 pints of liquid, 1 oz (four envelopes) yields a firm mold that still unseats cleanly; ¾ oz gives a softer, creamier set.
A gillHalf a cup, 4 fl oz. The recipe uses two of them, one of almond milk and one of syrup.
Syrup at thirty-two degreesDegrees Baumé, read on a syrup hydrometer, not Fahrenheit. A 32° Baumé syrup is roughly 60 percent sugar by weight — about 3 parts granulated sugar to 2 parts water by weight, boiled just until clear and cooled.
Almond milk (No. 4)Ranhofer means blanched sweet almonds pounded with water and strained: thick, sweet, emulsified. Cartoned almond drink is far thinner and often gums-stabilized; a quick almond milk from 4 oz blanched almonds blended with a cup of water and squeezed through cloth is closer to the intent.
Tinned basinA tin-lined copper or tin bowl. Any nonreactive bowl serves; avoid bare aluminum, which dulls the color of acidic fruit purée.
Dissolving orderSoften the gelatine in cold water first, then dissolve it in the almond milk and syrup — never into the cold purée, which will string. Strain it at once, and then, as Ranhofer directs, pour the purée in with the gelatine.
Setting"Incrusted in chopped ice" is a pre-refrigeration technique. A cylindrical mold in the refrigerator needs about 4 hours rather than the ninety minutes ice-packing gives; overnight is safer if you want a clean slice.
UnmoldingDip the mold in hot water for 5 to 10 seconds, run a thin knife around the rim, and invert onto a chilled plate. A brief dip is all that is wanted; longer and the outer surface slumps.
YieldAbout 2 pints of mixture, serving 8 as an entremets. The halved apricots and the diluted apricot marmalade at the base are the sauce, so allow two or three halves per person.

A Little History

Pain here means loaf, not bread — a nineteenth-century French pastry term for a molded cold cream or fruit purée set with gelatine and turned out to be cut in slices, distinguished from a bavarois (lightened with whipped cream) and from a clear gelée. Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a working reference for professional kitchens, which is why the instructions assume a syrup hydrometer, a cross-referenced almond milk, and a supply of chopped ice: molds were set in ice chests, and the ninety-minute setting time reflects direct contact with ice rather than a refrigerated cabinet. Kirsch — cherry brandy — is often said to have been a favored partner for stone fruit in French desserts of the period. The chain of numbered cross-references, with almond milk at No. 4 and apricot marmalade at No. 3675, shows how the book was meant to be used: not read through, but flipped between.