Gordon Ramsay apple compote cooks two kinds of apple in a dry caramel with ginger and cinnamon. The topping is whipped cream lightened with egg whites, and it serves six in glasses. Allow about two hours, most of that chilling.
The recipe is from Ultimate Home Cooking, and he is upfront that at heart it is stewed apples and cream. What lifts it is the caramel. He wanted the flavour of a tarte tatin without making one, so the sugar goes into a dry pan before the apples.
Two apples do two jobs. Bramleys collapse into sauce while Braeburns hold their shape, so you get texture and purée in the same spoonful. That is the difference between a compote and apple sauce.
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Gordon Ramsay Apple Compote with a Creamy Whip
Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy6
servings25
minutes15
minutes500
kcal1
hour30
minutes2 hr 10 min
From Ultimate Home Cooking, where the sugar caramelises dry before the apples go anywhere near it, and the topping is whipped cream folded through with egg white meringue and lemon zest.
Ingredients
- For the compote:
250g caster sugar (1¼ cups superfine sugar)
2 dessert apples such as Braeburn, peeled, cored and chopped into chunks
2 Bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped into chunks
3cm piece of fresh root ginger (1¼ in), peeled and thickly sliced into about 4 pieces
3 small cinnamon sticks
75g butter (5 tbsp)
- For the creamy whip:
2 free-range egg whites
250ml double cream (1 cup heavy cream)
Zest of 1 lemon
Directions
- Make the caramel: Sprinkle 200g of the sugar into a hot heavy-based pan in an even layer. Heat without stirring until it turns a golden caramel, swirling the pan now and then so the colour is even.
- Cook the apples: Add the apples, ginger and cinnamon sticks, swirling so everything is coated in the caramel. Cook over a low heat for 5 minutes, then add the butter and give it another 5 minutes, until the apples are soft and collapsing.
- Drain: Tip the mixture into a sieve set over a bowl and let it drain. Keep the liquid.
- Fill the glasses: Fish out all four pieces of ginger and the three cinnamon sticks, then spoon the fruit into six 175ml serving glasses. Keep any excess cooking juices back. Chill for an hour or so.
- Whisk the whites: Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then whisk in the remaining 50g of sugar a little at a time until you have stiff, glossy peaks.
- Fold the cream: In another bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks. Fold in three-quarters of the lemon zest, then the reserved apple liquid, holding a little back to drizzle if you like. Fold the egg whites in last.
- Top and chill: Spoon or pipe the cream over each chilled glass of compote. Scatter over the rest of the lemon zest, drizzle with any reserved juices, and chill for 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- The book gives the ginger as a 3cm piece thickly sliced without saying how many pieces that makes. In the F Word video he counts four slices in, which is what I have gone with. Calories are calculated from the ingredients since the book gives none.
FAQs
Which apples does Ramsay actually use?
The book says two Braeburns and two Bramleys. In the video he makes it with his daughter and reaches for Granny Smiths instead, working through the names with her until she gets there.
Either combination works, because the principle is one cooker plus one eater. Bramleys and Granny Smiths both break down and bring acidity, while Braeburns stay in pieces. You can watch him talk her through it if you want to see the difference.
Why caramelise the sugar before adding the apples?
Because sugar cannot caramelise once fruit juice is in the pan. Going in dry lets it reach a deep golden colour first, and the apples pick that up afterwards.
He says outright he was chasing the taste of caramelised apples from a tarte tatin. The apple tarte tatin uses the same 200g of sugar in the same dry pan. This is that technique lifted out of the pastry.
Why count the ginger and cinnamon out loud?
Because they all have to come out before serving, and whole spices vanish fast in a pan of collapsing apple. In the video Ramsay makes his daughter remember how many went in for exactly that reason.
Four slices of ginger and three cinnamon sticks, counted in and counted out. Biting into a cinnamon stick in a chilled dessert is not something anyone forgets.
Why put egg whites in the cream?
It is a meringue folded through whipped cream, and it changes the texture completely. The whites hold air that cream alone cannot, so the topping sits high instead of sinking in.
Ramsay describes the result as light as snow. It also stretches 250ml of cream across six glasses, which plain whipped cream would struggle to do.
What do you do with the drained liquid?
Keep it, because it is caramel and apple juice cooked together, and it is the best thing in the pan. Most of it gets folded into the cream, which sweetens the topping and tints it toffee-coloured.
Hold a little back to drizzle over at the end. In the video Ramsay calls the mixture apple butterscotch, which is about right.
Can you make apple compote ahead?
The compote itself, yes, and it improves. Cook it a day ahead, keep it covered in the fridge, and the spices carry on infusing overnight.
The topping is different. Fold it on the day, because cream with egg whites through it weeps after a few hours. The apple pudding is the better choice if you need something that keeps.
Do you have to serve it in glasses?
He uses six 175ml glasses, and it does more than look tidy. Straight sides stop the compote and the cream sliding into each other, and you can see the layers.
Ramekins or small bowls work fine. What matters more is that the compote is properly cold, because warm fruit melts the topping on contact.
