• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Edible San Francisco

  • RECIPES
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • Back Issues
    • 2019
      • Summer 2019
      • Spring 2019 La Cocina
      • Winter 2019 Champions of Change
    • 2018
      • Winter 2018 Patty Unterman Issue
      • Spring 2018 Low Dose Cannabis Revolution
      • Summer 2018 – Anthony Bourdain issue
      • Fall 2018 – Stamping Out Sexual Harassment
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2008 Samin Nosrat
  • SHOP

In the Kantine Kitchen: Roasted apples with cream and black pepper caramel sauce

October 17, 2016 by Nichole Accettola

roasted apples cream and caramel sauce

Roasted apples with cream and black pepper caramel sauce. Photo Nichole Accetola.

MAD. It’s the Danish word for “food” and it’s also the name of the influential two-day symposium for chefs, farmers, eaters and innovators in Copenhagen, Denmark, founded by Noma chef René Redzepi. This year’s MAD conference was held at the end of August, and although I’ve attended MAD several times before, this was the first time I’d be leading one of the over 60 breakout sessions included in the program.

The topics for the sessions ran the gamut from “Kill Your Mother Sauces: Rethinking Chef Training” to “Chef or Rockstar? Media’s Impact on the Food Scene,” and contributed to the symposium’s theme, “Tomorrow’s Kitchen.” My session topic, “Sustainability in Kitchen Staffing: Where are all the cooks going?” plagues many of restaurants in the Bay Area, and it will undoubtedly be something I’ll need to tackle firsthand after I open my own place, Kantine, in San Francisco next year.

During my session, I presented the causes and effects of the staffing crisis, and then as a group, we discussed possible solutions. Many participants, including industry leaders like Australian chef Kylie Kwong and San Francisco chef Gabriela Cámara were dealing with the problem on an ongoing basis. Staffing their acclaimed restaurant kitchens is a daily and never-ending challenge. It was an intense hour, and as expected, no surefire answer was found, but headway was definitely made.

Before you knew it, our two days of sessions, keynote speeches, introductions, and way too much good coffee were over. MAD traditionally closes with a festive dinner by the harbor, with attendees seated at long communal tables tucked under one of the city’s most picturesque bridges, the Knippelsbro. This year’s dinner was a collaboration of seven local restaurants, with an exquisite dessert of fire pit roasted apples from the restaurant Amass as the last course.

Back in San Francisco, with the apple season well underway, I was inspired to re-create my version of the dish. I browned tart apple chunks on the stovetop in butter and tossed them with fresh oregano leaves. Then I slathered the apples with whipped cream, topped them with a handful of olive oil croutons, and then drizzled black pepper caramel sauce on top.

Print

Roasted apples with cream and black pepper caramel sauce

roasted apples cream and caramel sauce

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (9 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...

I love to serve this dessert when entertaining at home and put the apples, cream, croutons and caramel in separate bowls, allowing guests to dig in themselves. The divine flavors, as well as the sharing among friends, reminds me of my two-day adventure at MAD.

  • Author: Nichole Accettola

Ingredients

Scale

For the olive oil croutons
3 cups Italian-style bread, torn roughly into 1-inch pieces
½ cup olive oil

For the black pepper caramel sauce
1⁄3 cup water
2⁄3 cup sugar
2⁄3 cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon black peppercorns, ground coarsely

For the apples
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound Braeburn apples (or any sweet/tart heirloom apple), peeled, cored, cut into ½-inch dice
3 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves only (parsley is an ok substitute)
¾ cup heavy cream

Instructions

1. To make the croutons: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Put the bread into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Mix well until thoroughly coated. Spread croutons onto baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes; rotate pan and bake until golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. To make the caramel sauce: Put water and sugar in a 4-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the sauce is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper.

3. To make the apples: Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter; when it has melted and stopped foaming, add apple chunks. Brown the apples on all sides and remove from the pan immediately so they maintain some crispness. Stir in the oregano leaves.

4. In a bowl or mixer, whisk the cream until soft peaks form.

5. To serve, put each component in a bowl by itself, and allow guests to create their own desserts. Alternatively, for individual servings, start with apple chunks on bottom, top with whipped cream, decorate with croutons and serve with caramel sauce on the side.

Notes

I love to serve this dessert when entertaining at home and put the apples, cream, crumbs and caramel in separate bowls, allowing guests to dig in themselves. The divine flavors, as well as the sharing among friends, reminds me of my two-day adventure at MAD.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @ediblesf on Instagram and hashtag it #ediblesf

Trending

Google says these are the top 5 recipes on Edible SF right now. Those Roasted Green Beans are still holding strong at #1. Who knew that was a thing? 1500+ cooks have viewed that recipe in the past month!

  1. Roasted Green Beans
  2. Swedish Cinnamon Knots
  3. Dungeness Crab Cakes
  4. Roasted Nectarine Sundae with Caramel Sauce
  5. Swedish Rye Crispbread

Filed Under: 2016, Baking, Fruits, Kantine, Recipes

Previous Post: « Gratta’s Garage: Homemade Wines with Family Ties
Next Post: Cooking with San Francisco Cooking School: Escarole Salad with Concord Grapes »

Primary Sidebar

EAT. DRINK. THINK. Edible SF’s artfully curated newsletter of Bay Area (and beyond) food news + recipes and social ephemera.

LATEST ISSUE

Edible SF Winter 2020 cover

guss community market

California Farmers markets

where to find ediblesf

Footer

Instagram

Instagram has returned invalid data.

23,000+ fans follow us on Instagram!

Edible San Francisco celebrates what feeds us in the SF Bay Area. We connect people to their food—where it comes from, how it’s produced, and who makes it. Our readers are enthusiastic home cooks, top chefs, farmers and other food producers, butchers and bakers, distillers and vintners—everyone who is leading the way in how we eat and drink today. We combine fresh, seasonal, modern recipes with compelling storytelling, all created by incredibly talented writers, photographers, and illustrators from the Bay Area.

Edible San Francisco
236 West Portal Avenue #191
SF CA 94116
415-322-3615

ADVERTISE

CONTACT US

ABOUT US

PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright © 2021 · Edible San Francisco & Edible Communities