Saturday, 27 March 2010

Daring Baker's March 2010 Challenge - Orange Tian


The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

I decided to make 1 large heart-shaped tian instead of 6 individual ones as suggested. I made a few mis-steps along the way but nothing too major. The proof is in the pudding as they say and mine was devoured within minutes of plating. It was fun making the different components but took a little planning. I'm really glad I know how to make marmalade now as it was quite simple and very tasty. I was a little lazy though - should have cut the oranges finer to start with. I cooked them as they are shown below as I thought I'd whizz it in the food processor afterwards but decided to just run my scissors through it instead.
This is definitely a great dessert with a wow factor and perfect to serve in the coming summer months with variations of fruits.

Making marmalade
Extra thick cut marmalade
Pate Sablee (forgot to take a picture after it came out of the oven)
Orange segments

Sugar for the caramel

Add orange juice once the sugar bubbles and foams
orange-caramel

Now for the fun part, assembling the dessert- arrange the orange segments so that there are no gaps
Spread the whipped cream & marmalade mixture on top (probably shouldn't have put all the marmalade in but I did as I somehow missed the 1 tablespoon bit! It still tasted ok, a little too citrusy and slightly bitter but no real harm done)
Spread a thin layer of marmalade on the pate sablee
Gently press the dough on top. Place in freezer for ~20 minutes to set.

Straight from the freezer
I added the caramel sauce on top in the shape of hearts and if you look closely there should also be a heart shaped outline on the plate

Extra drizzle of caramel just before serving

For the Pate Sablee:

Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients
2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
granulated sugar 6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon; 2.8 oz; 80 grams
vanilla extract ½ teaspoon
Unsalted butter ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams ice cold, cubed
Salt 1/3 teaspoon; 2 grams
All-purpose flour 1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons; 7 oz; 200 grams
baking powder 1 teaspoon ; 4 grams

Directions:
Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.
Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.
Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

For the Marmalade:
Ingredients U.S. Imperial Metric Instructions for Ingredients
Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
1 large orange used to make orange slices
cold water to cook the orange slices
pectin 5 grams (I omitted this and it worked fine)
granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked

Directions
Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.
Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.
Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.
Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).
Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.
In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).
Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

For the Orange Segments:
For this step you will need 8 oranges.
Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.
How to segment an orange

For the Caramel:
Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
granulated sugar 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 14 oz; 400 grams

Directions
Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.
Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.
Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.

[Tip: Be very careful when making the caramel — if you have never made caramel before, I would suggest making this step while you don’t have to worry about anything else. Bubbling sugar is extremely, extremely hot, so make sure you have a bowl of ice cold water in the kitchen in case anyone gets burnt!]

For the Whipped Cream:
Ingredients U.S. Metric Imperial Instructions for Ingredients
heavy whipping cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon

Directions
In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.

[Tip: Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.]

Assembling the Dessert:

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.
Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.
Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.
Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.
Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.
Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.
Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.
Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.
Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.
Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

38 comments:

  1. What a cute heart. That would be the perfect dessert for Valentine's Day or for the hubby's birthday. Good job on the challenge!

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  2. Great looking heart-shaped tian :) I liked that you took pictures of the components, great job

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  3. Very pretty looking heart shaped Tian you've made there. Personally I like chunky maramalade.

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  4. Love the heart shaped Tian!! I considered doing my heart shaped too but ended up doing a rectangular one!! This is just superb!

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  5. That's a very pretty heart tian. Well done! The marmalade looks yum even when thick cut :)

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  6. The heart-shaped Tian has simply stolen my heart. The mini cheesecake in the previous post has grabbed my attention. Bookmarked that recipe to try out in the future!

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  7. I second that motion on the heart shape-very creative and beautiful !
    Sandy

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  8. Well done on the Tian. I (like everyone else!) love the heart shape. Looks delicious!

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  9. Your marmalade looks good with the extra chunks of orange! Great job on the tian!

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  10. I like the heart shaped tian, good job on the challenge

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  11. Great job on the challenge! Thanks for stopping by mine. I love the heart shaped tian :)

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  12. Delicious your orange heart! In this challenge, I've loved, above all, the caramel..it's so yummy!
    Kisses
    Ago :-D

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  13. Very well done! Your tian looks lovely!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  14. the heart is so cute! nice job this month

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  15. Really great post. I love how you made you tian in a heart shape. Great advise on the caramel too!!

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  16. The heart shape is super cute!

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  17. Orange Tian looks so lovely nad I like the innovative heart shaped presentation.Thanks for dropping by simply.food.Your visit nad comments aremuch appreciated.

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  18. I'm going to echo everyone else and say that I love that your tian is heart-shaped. It looks amazing! It's really beautifully put together. Great photos too. :)

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  19. I like your step-by-step photos! The heart shape was a nice idea too! I like chunky marmalade, so I would have loved yours. Thanks for stopping by:)

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  20. Indeed this was a wow factor dessert! It really did taste great! I love your heart-shaped tian! That would be a perfect romantic treat! I like your step by step pictures too! Great job.

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  21. I love that heart pan! Your finished tian looks beautiful. Great job on the challenge!

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  22. Your heart-shaped tian is great! Your marmalade looks delicious too!

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  23. Your tian is so cute!! Congratulations - it looks fantastic - but most importantly it looks so YUMMY and obviously was! :)

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  24. What a stunning tian - perfect!

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  25. Love the heart shaped tian! Great job on the challenge!

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  26. Great job! I have a heart shaped springform pan and didn't even occur to me to use it. This would be a great Valentine's dessert, too.

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  27. I wasn't sure how I would like this dessert since I don't really like marmalade. But it was good. I love your heart shape.

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  28. Beautifully done! I love your heart shape tian:)

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  29. Very sweet heart-shaped orange tian. Looks delicious!

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  30. I love your tian! I'm a sucker for anything shaped differently ;). I like the thick cut marmalade - I bet that would have had a fantastic citrusy taste. Great job on the DB challenge! Can't wait until we find out the next one!

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  31. your heart shape is great! Thankst for stopping by!

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  32. OH so beautiful tian heart I love the top of the tian, looks gorgeous.

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  33. Adorable!!! And Yes! I can see the caramel shaped on the tian! :) Great job!

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  34. Wonderful creation! congratulations on a challenge met and exceeded!

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  35. I have to say, this is too involved for me to attempt. I'm just way too lazy, but I'm not to lazy to eat it if you want to share daaaaaahling. It looks great.
    *kisses* HH

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  36. I love your heart shaped tian but especially love the bruleed look of your orange supremes across the top. Beautiful job!

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  37. Aww the heart shape is so gorgeous! You did a wonderful job! :D

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