how2heroes » Strawberry Pâte de Fruit

Dessert & Baked Goods » Strawberry Pâte de Fruit

Christina Kaelberer, Executive Pastry Chef at Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Market at the W Boston, makes candies so beautiful they look like edible little gems. Pâte de Fruit translates from French literally to "fruit paste." A luscious strawberry purée is cooked to a soft velvety texture. The candies are cut into vibrant little squares of heaven and tossed in sugar for a sparkly finish, reminiscent of the work of the finest Parisian pâtisserie.

Print Recipe

Makes approximately 48 candy squares

Ingredients

2½ cups strawberry purée, strained of seeds
½ oz pectin
2¾ cups granulated sugar - divided as ¼ cup & 2½ cups
2 tbsp glucose (or corn syrup)
¹⁄₈ tsp tartaric acid or cream of tartar
⅛ tsp water
nonstick cooking spray

Coating

1 cup sugar

Special Equipment

medium, thick-bottomed, non-reactive saucepan
candy thermometer
plastic wrap
baking pan or straight-edged tray
paring knife

How-to

Bring fruit purée to a gentle boil in a medium, thick-bottomed, non-reactive saucepan over medium-high heat
Mix together pectin and ¼ cup of sugar (this helps prevent pectin from clumping in the hot liquid when added)
Sprinkle pectin mixture evenly over the boiling fruit in 2 stages, whisking to incorporate. Boil 2-3 minutes, reduce heat to medium-low and whisk in the glucose
Sprinkle 2½ cups of sugar over the fruit mixture in 3 or 4 successive stages, whisking to fully incorporate
Cook mixture over medium heat until it reaches 225º F (107º C), stirring every 5-10 minutes. This will take about 20 minutes, but watch the mixture closely and use a candy thermometer to achieve the exact temperature
Meanwhile, line a baking pan or straight-edged tray with plastic wrap and coat lightly with nonstick cooking spray
Mix ⅛ tsp tartaric acid solution with ⅛ tsp water and set aside
Remove mixture from the heat when it reaches the correct temperature, and whisk in the tartaric acid and water solution. Immediately pour onto one-quarter of the prepared baking pan. Pull one end of the plastic wrap up and over the mixture to keep it on the quarter of the baking pan so that it sets and hardens into an even rectangle
Allow to set and harden at room temperature a few hours to overnight (do not refrigerate!)
With a paring knife, cut into ¾” wide strips (while inside the pan). Remove strips from pan and cut into squares and transfer to a bowl containing 1 cup of sugar. Toss to coat. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 weeks

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Comments (2)

Posted Saturday, November 22, 2014, at 1:17 am by chmuffin:

Mine came out barely firm enough to cut--definitely don't have the lovely crisp edges as shown in the video. I used candy thermometer and measured 225F in a couple places before remove from stove. Can anyone suggest what might have gone wrong?
Posted Friday, December 7, 2012, at 1:40 pm by Rick Dias:

Great instructions! I'm going to try to make this with a simple homemade sugar syrup instead of corn syrup. Do you happen to know of any issues with this? Otherwise, I will post my results in a followup comment.

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Strawberry Pâte de Fruit