Saturday, March 27, 2010

Daring Bakers: Orange Cherry Tian



This months challenge was citrus tian. I chose to do orange cherry flavor. (And just in the nick of time- I am writing this post the night before it is due to go up.) I am not a last minute person but sometimes it just works out that way.

This is a beautiful dessert that isn't difficult but it is time consuming. I always find these multi dimensional desserts to be somewhat overwhelming but in the end I am always glad I did it. There is just something about this kind of dessert that takes you over the top. I am not especially a marmalade person but I did like the kind of bitter contrast with the sweet.

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.

Orange Tian

For the pate sablee:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg
4 1/2 ounces butter (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon)

In a processor combine flour, sugar and salt. While processor is running drop butter by small pieces and finally the egg. Once a dough ball is formed remove from processor. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to overnight.

Roll out to a 1/4 inch thick and cut rounds with a pastry ring. You can use small tin cans and use them to cut your dough. Then you know they will fit in the rounds when forming the tian.


For the Marmalade:


Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
the peel of 1 large orange that was used to make orange slices
cold water to cook the orange slices
pectin 5 grams
granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked

Place the orange peels 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.

For the Caramel:

granulated sugar 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
orange juice 1 cup
maraschino cherry juice 1/2 cup

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/cherry 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:

heavy whipping cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
cherry jam (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon

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.

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.

Note: I lined small tins with cereal bag plastic and then layered in the components as directed.

26 comments:

kat said...

Its so pretty! I think I am out of DB at this point. I always seemed to wait until the last minute & then didn't enjoy the rush ;)

Cristine said...

Your tian is beautiful! Love the cherry on top!

shelley c. said...

Beautiful tian - good idea on the flavor combination! Great job on the challenge.

Barbara said...

You did a marvelous job with the tian, Lori! It's beautiful. And would be lovely for company..everyone would be so impressed with the time and effort as well as the flavors.

Taste of Beirut said...

Lori

Your tian is so beautiful it could pass for Alain Ducasses! I am impressed! Love the idea of combining all these flavors must be heavenly to eat!

Katy ~ said...

Lori, what a splendid effort and outcome. This looks amazing!! Well done.

ann low said...

Your tian is very beautiful! Nice Job!

Karen | Citrus and Candy said...

Beautiful job and btw, I love your plate :)

Anonymous said...

mmm...orange & cheery, what a lovely combination!

chef_d said...

great looking tian! love the orange and cherry combination

Anonymous said...

Very nice. The tian looks pretty!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Such lovely dessert. You did a wonderful job.
~ingrid

Jenni said...

Great job! Your tian looks beautiful!

LittleRed said...

I love the single sized presentation. It looks delicious as usual.

zorra said...

Your tian is just perfect. Great job!

grace said...

really gorgeous work, lori! i don't believe i've ever had a pairing of oranges and cherries, but i think they must balance each other nicely!

Mary Bergfeld said...

You did a wonderful job with this challenge. It is really beautiful to look at. I can only imagine it tastes as good as it looks.

Tia said...

mmm orange cherry! sounds great.

Mary said...

It looks great, and I bet the cherry caramel sauce was amazing! Nicely done!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Your cherry orange combination is unusual. Very pretty Tian.

Lauren said...

I love the addition of cherry! Your tian looks delicious =D.

shaz said...

What a great idea to add a bit of cherry in there. Very cute presentation, and great job on getting it done at the last minute :)

linda said...

Your tian looks perfect! Love the addition of cherry.

Unknown said...

Ooh, orange and cherry sound so good! Beautiful job!

Lisa said...

Lori..YOU are the master! What a creative pairing of orange and cherry, and the color is simply lovely..almost a vibrant salmon. Amazing 'everything' as always :)

Chocolate Shavings said...

Orange Cherry Tian sounds divine, I'm glad you liked my Tian challenge!