TABELIA

AUTHENTIC RECIPE

Pastis GasconGascon Apple Pastry with Armagnac

Gascon Apple Pastry with Armagnac
Difficulty★★★★★ Prep1 hr Cook45 min Rest2 hr 30 min servings4

A Gascon pastry made by layering hand-stretched, translucent dough around Armagnac-soaked apples. On top, thin sheets are crumpled upright into a “crown of flowers” that bakes into light, crisp layers. Stretching the dough paper-thin without tearing is the heart of this pastry, one of the most demanding displays of hand skill in French baking.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated
100/ 100

AUTHENTICITY SCORE

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Ingredients (4 servings)

  • Bread flourUse bread flour: gluten is needed to stretch it thinly.250 g
  • Lukewarm water for the dough100 ml
  • Egg for the doughProvides stretch and strength.1 piece
  • Vegetable oil for the doughKeeps the dough supple enough for hand stretching.30 ml
  • Salt for the dough3 g
  • Jonathan applesA tart, Japanese-grown variety. Peel, core and slice 3mm thick.3 pieces
  • ArmagnacA grape spirit from Gascony, for soaking the apples. Available from liquor shops or online.40 ml
  • Granulated sugar for the applesFor macerating the apples.50 g
  • Unsalted butter for the layersMelt and brush each layer to create lightness and a toasted aroma.100 g
  • Granulated sugar for the layersSprinkle on each layer.40 g
  • Icing sugar for finishingSift over after baking with a tea strainer.10 g

Method

115 min

Make the dough

  • 1 Mix 250g bread flour and 3g dough salt in a bowl.
  • 2 Make a well and add 1 egg, 30ml vegetable oil and 100ml lukewarm water, then mix.
  • 3 Turn onto the worktop and knead firmly for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Once smooth, round it and coat lightly with extra oil.
22 hr

Rest the dough at room temperature

  • 1 Wrap the dough and leave at room temperature for 2 hours.
  • 2 The gluten relaxes so the dough can stretch thinly without tearing.

Caution

Insufficient resting will cause the dough to tear.

310 min

Macerate the apples in Armagnac

  • 1 Meanwhile(While the dough rests) peel and core 3 apples and slice 3mm thick.
  • 2 Place in a bowl, coat with 40ml Armagnac and 50g sugar for the apples and macerate for 30 minutes.
45 min

Prepare for layering

  • 1 Melt 100g butter for the layers in a small saucepan.
  • 2 Cover a table with a large clean sheet-like cloth and dust generously with flour.
515 min

Stretch the dough extremely thinly

  • 1 Place the rested dough in the centre of the cloth and roll as thinly as possible, then slide the backs of both hands underneath and gradually stretch from the centre outwards.
  • 2 Supporting it with the backs of your hands to prevent tearing, stretch to about an 80cm square, thin enough to read newspaper print through it.
  • 3 Trim away the thick edges.

Caution

Fingernails and fingertips tear the dough. Always use the backs of your hands, helping its own weight stretch it naturally. Small tears will be hidden when layered and need not worry you.

615 min

Dry the stretched dough

  • 1 Start preheating the oven to 180°C.
  • 2 Meanwhile(While the oven heats) leave the stretched dough for 15 minutes to dry its surface lightly and make handling easier.
78 min

Layer the dough sheets

  • 1 Cut the dough into 10 sheets about 20cm square.
  • 2 Butter a 22cm tin with extra butter; brush 1 sheet with melted butter, sprinkle lightly with layering sugar and place in the tin.
  • 3 Layer 5 sheets in the same way, rotating them slightly each time.
88 min

Add the apples and flower crown

  • 1 Spread the macerated apples and all their juices over the dough.
  • 2 Butter and sugar each of the remaining 5 sheets, crumple loosely and arrange upright over the apples like petals.
  • 3 This sculpted top becomes the baked “flower crown”.
945 min

Bake the pastis

  • 1 Bake at 180°C for 40–45 minutes.
  • 2 Cover with foil during baking if the top threatens to burn.

Ready when

It is ready when the top pastry is deep golden and crisp and apple juices bubble gently between the layers.

1015 min

Cool briefly and dust with sugar

  • 1 Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then sift over 10g icing sugar with a tea strainer.
  • 2 Serve warm to enjoy the layers at their lightest.
A view of Aurensan, Gascogne
Aurensan, GascogneFrance Photo: F123 · CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized; display cropped)

About this dish

Gascony is a hilly region in southwestern France dotted with Armagnac distilleries and farms. Pastis gascon, also known as croustade aux pommes, has long been baked for celebrations in the region’s farmhouses.

Its defining method is stretching the dough by hand over a cloth spread across the table until newspaper print can be read through it. Women of the family once gathered around the table and stretched from every side, a familiar scene in preparing this pastry.

Fewer makers now possess this hand-stretching skill, but artisans still demonstrate it at Gascon markets and festivals, and local pastry shops display pastis crowned with upright sheets like flowers. Together with Armagnac-soaked apples, it expresses the pride of its homeland.

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