Daring Bakers' Orange Tian

A shocking surprise came by yesterday while I was finishing up photo shoot for this challenge. T called and whilst sobbing told me that his dad just passed away. Despite his blindness and his reluctance to take any solid food in the last 2 weeks, his dad's health was completely fine. And T just brought him to see a doctor that morning to get some advice of how to boost up his dad's appetite. The doctor suggested a blood test and his dad passed clean. Arriving home, T was feeding his dad with some milk and a while after he finished this light lunch - appeared to be his last meal on earth, he was quitely gone for good. No last word whatsoever..... left peacefully in his sleep. "Good bye, Dad! Good bye Apache!"

In the middle of the temple ceremony, I managed to find some time to walk away and post this challenge update. Had to go back quickly for the chanting session. Rush rush...



This challenge is straight forward but time consuming. Therefore it is advisable to prepare various sections in separate days. Like perhaps baking pate sablee and making orange marmalade a few days earlier. Cutting orange segments could be done one day earlier, leaving only whipping cream preparation in the same day with the final cake assembly.

It was my first time cutting oranges into segments. Apparently oranges without their membranes were very refreshing. Every bite into them gave me a smile. It was also my first time making orange marmalade. The taste appeared to be the same as what I usually got from the supermarket.



As an overall, the orange tian is delicious. I would definitely do it again, with a lot of fruit variation. Definitely I would love to try kiwi fruit, mango, jack fruit, or plain strawberries. Pate sablee is crunchy and double delicious. Keeping it in an air tight container and refrigerating doesn't affect its crunchiness. Superb! This recipe is a real keeper!



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. Thank you so much, Jennifer!

ORANGE TIAN
Makes one 7 inch and eight 2.5 inch cakes



1. Pate Sablee:
Makes one 7 inch and eight 2.5 inch crust circles

Ingredients:
- Egg yolks > 2
- Granulated sugar > 6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon; 2.8 oz; 80 grams
- Vanilla extract > ½ teaspoon
- Ice cold salted butter - cut into cubes > ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
- Salt > 1/3 teaspoon; 2 grams
- All-purpose flour > 1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons; 7 oz; 200 grams
- Baking powder > 1 teaspoon ; 4 grams

Method:
- Put eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until the mixture is pale.
- Put flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Mix moderately.
- In a separate bowl, 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 180C.
- Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain around 4-5mm thick circle.
- Using one 6 inch and one 2 inch cake rings (they are supposed to be smaller than the actual crust circles because after baking, the dough circles will expand), cut out one 6 inch and eight 2 inch circles of dough and place them on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.



2. Orange Marmalade

Ingredients
- Freshly pressed orange juice > ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
- Large orange used to make orange slices > 1
- Cold water to cook the orange slices
- Pectin powder > 5 grams
- Granulated sugar > use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked
- Lime juice > 2 tablespoons

Method:
- 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 leave them just warm.
- Once they are not too hot to handle, mince them with a knife.
- 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, petin powder, and lime juice. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).
- Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.



3. Orange Segments

Ingredients:
- 10 oranges.

Method:
- Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl. Squeeze the juice out of leftover membranes into the same bowl so the segments are covered with juice.
- Leave aside for later use or refrigerate.



4. Caramel

Ingredients:
- Ganulated sugar > 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
- Orange juice > 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 14 oz; 400 grams (feel free to take from the orange juice covering the orange segment plus a little bit more from new oranges, or simply replace orange juice with plain clean water)

Method:
- 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 (or water). 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!]



5. Whipped Cream

Ingredients:
- Heavy whipping cream > 2 cups; 14 oz; 400 grams
- Hot water > 6 tablespoons
- Gelatine powder > 2 teaspoons
- Confectioner's sugar > 2 tablespoons (if the whipping cream is sweet enough, skip this)
- orange marmalade (see recipe above) > 1 tablespoon

Method:
- 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 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. Mix well.
[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.]



6. Assembly

Method:
- Cover base and side of a 7 inch and eight 2.5 inch cake rings with aluminium foil. Place them on a big tray (make sure you have some room in your refrigerator to chill the cake overnight until set or in case you need to speed up the process, spare some space in the freezer to freeze it for 10-20 minutes).
- Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked crust circles ready to use. If it is necessary, crop the crust circles to fit the cake rings.
- Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.
- Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cake ring. 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 10-20 minutes or chill in the refrigerator overnight.
- 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 crust cirle) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cake ring, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.