Chausson aux Pommes

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The chausson aux pommes (apple turnover) is one of the oldest and most beloved items in the French boulangerie repertoire: a half-moon of puff pastry enclosing a compote of caramelised apples, sealed, egg-washed, and scored with a decorative pattern before baking to shattering, golden perfection. The pastry is classical pâte feuilletée (puff pastry) — not croissant dough, despite occasional modern shortcuts — rolled to 3mm thickness and cut into circles of 15-18cm diameter using a plate or pastry ring as a guide. The apple filling (compote de pommes or, better, pommes sautées) is prepared from firm, tart apples (Reine des Reinettes, Granny Smith, or Boskoop), peeled, cored, and diced into 1cm cubes. The cubes are sautéed in butter with sugar (1 tablespoon per apple) over high heat, tossing frequently, until caramelised on the edges but still holding their shape — this is not applesauce but a compote with distinct pieces. A squeeze of lemon juice, a scrape of vanilla bean, and a teaspoon of Calvados (optional but traditional) finish the filling, which must be cooled completely before assembly. A generous spoonful of filling is placed on one half of each pastry circle, leaving a 2cm border. The border is moistened with water, the unfilled half folded over to create a half-moon, and the edges pressed firmly to seal. The seal is then crimped by pressing with the tines of a fork or by making small, overlapping folds (repère) for an elegant scalloped edge. The assembled chausson is refrigerated for 20 minutes to firm the butter, then egg-washed and scored with a sharp knife: a series of curved lines radiating from the centre to the edges in a leaf-vein or sunburst pattern, cutting through the egg wash and the very surface of the pastry but not through to the filling. This scoring is both decorative and functional, allowing steam to escape and the pastry layers to separate properly. Baking at 200-210°C for 18-22 minutes produces a deeply golden, magnificently puffed turnover. A light apricot glaze or dusting of powdered sugar may be applied upon exit from the oven.

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