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French · Gascony

Pastis Gascon / Croustade aux Pommes

The pastis gascon (or croustade gasconne aux pommes) is Gascony’s most spectacular pastry — a multi-layered apple pie whose tissue-thin pastry sheets are stretched by hand over a cloth-covered table to near-transparency, then brushed with Armagnac-scented goose fat and layered around Armagnac-macerated apples into a towering, crunchy, golden dome. The pastry technique is essentially identical to strudel dough and has the same Central European origins via medieval trade routes. The dough is deceptively simple: 300g flour, 1 egg, 60ml warm water, 30ml sunflower oil, a pinch of salt — kneaded vigorously for 10 minutes to develop the gluten that allows extreme stretching, then rested under a warm bowl for 1 hour. The stretched dough should be transparent enough to read newsprint through it. The filling combines 6-8 firm apples (Reinette or Golden), peeled and sliced thin, macerated for 2 hours in 100ml Armagnac with sugar (150g) and vanilla. Each sheet of stretched dough is brushed generously with melted goose fat (200g total), then layered in a buttered mold or arranged free-form on a baking sheet, the apple filling distributed across the layers. The top sheets are gathered and ruffled to create an ornamental dome that crisps and caramelizes in the oven at 190°C for 35-40 minutes. The result is a masterwork of textural contrast: shatteringly crisp, almost gossamer layers of fat-brushed pastry encasing tender, Armagnac-perfumed apples. Each bite releases a shower of golden flakes. This is the dessert of Gascon celebration — weddings, harvest feasts, and the return of the oie grasse (fattened goose) season.

‹Swipe for the next dish›
ServesSix to eight portions
Total3 hours 30 minutes (including maceration and rest)
Sourced0of 11 in BC
Cook
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I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

For the dough
300 g
plain flour
plus extra for the cloth
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
egg
Your own market
60 ml
warm water
Your own market
30 ml
sunflower oil
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 pinch
fine salt
Your own market
For the filling
6–8
firm apples, Reinette or Golden
peeled, cored, sliced thin
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 ml
Armagnac
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
caster sugar
divided: part for maceration, part for dusting between layers
Your own market
1
vanilla pod
split, or equivalent extract
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For assembly
200 g
goose fat
melted
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
15 g
unsalted butter
softened, for greasing the mould
Your own market
II

The Method

1
Combine the flour, egg, warm water, sunflower oil, and salt in a bowl. Turn the mass onto a work surface and knead vigorously for 10 minutes until the dough is completely smooth, supple, and springs back when pressed. The dough must be worked long enough to develop the gluten chains that allow extreme stretching without tearing — this step cannot be shortened.
2
Shape the dough into a ball, place it under a warm bowl, and leave it to rest for 1 hour at room temperature (22–24 °C). The gluten must relax fully; a cold room or shortened rest will cause the dough to resist stretching and tear.
3
While the dough rests, combine the sliced apples in a bowl with the Armagnac, 100 g of the sugar, and the vanilla. Turn the apples to coat evenly and leave to macerate for 2 hours. The Armagnac defines the Gascon character of the dish; this step is not optional.
4
Cover a large table with a clean cloth and dust it generously with flour. Lay the rested dough in the centre. Working with the backs of the hands — never the fingertips — ease the dough outward from the centre, moving around the table, until it stretches to near-transparency across the entire cloth and hangs over the table edges without tearing. It must be transparent enough to read newsprint through it. Trim and discard any thick border edges. This is where the dish lives or dies: insufficient gluten development or haste at this stage produces torn sheets that cannot be layered.
From the canon — A framework for understanding gluten development as a controllable variable — from minimal development (tender, crumbly) to maximum development (chewy, struc… Gluten Development: Protein Networks and Baking Outcomes →
5
Brush the stretched sheet generously with melted goose fat. Fold or cut the sheet to create 8–10 manageable layers. Butter a deep mould or baking sheet. Lay the first layers into the mould, brushing each with goose fat and dusting lightly with the remaining 50 g of sugar to encourage caramelisation between the layers. Distribute the macerated apple slices across the interior layers.
6
Bring the uppermost sheets up and over the filling, gathering and ruffling them loosely to form an ornamental dome. Brush the dome thoroughly with the remaining goose fat. The ruffled surface will crisp and caramelise in the oven.
7
Bake at 190 °C for 35–40 minutes. The pastis is ready when the dome is deep golden and the top layers are shatteringly crisp to a light tap. The kitchen will carry the scent of caramelised sugar, warm Armagnac, and rendered fat. Serve warm, within 2 hours of baking.
From the canon — The application of low heat to solid animal fat (pork belly skin, duck skin, chicken skin, lard, beef suet) to melt and separate the pure fat from the connec… Rendered Fat: Slow Heat and the Rendered Result →
III

Quality Hierarchy

01
Reserve — Reinette apples from a named Gascon orchard; a vintage single-domaine Armagnac used in both the maceration and the glass served alongside; rendered fat from a labelled oie grasse of the region.
02
Estate — Reinette or Reine des Reinettes from a known grower; a reliable non-vintage Bas-Armagnac; good-quality rendered goose fat from a specialist butcher or conserverie.
03
Market — Golden Delicious apples (firm specimens, not mealy); a standard Armagnac AC; commercial goose fat in a jar — the most widely available and still authentic fat for this recipe.
04
House — Any firm, low-moisture apple that holds its shape in heat; an inexpensive Armagnac or Cognac as a substitute; duck fat in place of goose fat, acceptable but marginally less rich.
IV

Sensory Tests

◇Sight. The stretched sheet must be transparent enough to read newsprint through it and hang over the table edges without tearing.
◇Sight. The baked dome is deep, even gold across the ruffled crown with no pale or damp patches.
◇Sound. A light tap on the dome returns a hollow, crackling sound — the sign that the outer layers have crisped fully.
◇Smell. The scent of caramelised sugar and Armagnac rises cleanly without any trace of scorching.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the stretching stage: only dough kneaded long enough and rested fully in a warm room will extend to newsprint transparency without tearing — torn or thick sheets cannot produce the gossamer, shattering layers that define the pastis.
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VI

What to Pour

The pairing
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Buffalo Trace Distillery · Kentucky Bourbon Country
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Whisky
From British Columbia

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Without alcohol

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The whole pairing
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