Daring Baker 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.

My finished product!

I was a bit late with this challenge because March has been a crazy month, but I finally got it completed. This month's challenge seemed more difficult than the tiramisu, but that could be because I did the entire thing in one day. I made a few changes which I will bold in the recipe and liked this dessert more than I expected as I tasted the individual components along the way. I was most disappointed by the orange marmalade because I followed the directions exactly but could still taste bitterness, but Bryant liked the way all of the flavors worked together so perhaps it was just me. I don't think I would make this exact recipe again, but I will certainly use this concept with other fruit/flavor combinations in the future.

Recipe as provided for the Challenge:


Preparation time:- Pate Sablee: 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to rest, 15 minutes to roll out, 20 minutes to bake- Marmalade: 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to blanch- Orange segments: 20 minutes, overnight to sit- Caramel: 15 minutes, overnight to sit- Whipped Cream: 15 minutes- Assembling: 20 minutes- Freezer to Set: 10 minutes

Equipment required:• Cookie cutters . Ideally, you should have about 6 cookie cutters to build the desserts in and cut the circles of dough. I chose to make this family style and used a 9" springform pan as my mold. The cookie cutters will be the size of your final dessert, so they should be the size of an individually-sized tart mold. If you don’t have round cookie cutters you could use an individually-sized cheesecake mold without its base.• A food processor (although the dough could be made by hand too)• A stand-up or hand mixer• Parchment paper or a silicone sheet• A baking sheet• A rolling pin

For the Pate Sablee:
2 medium-sized egg yolks at room temperature
Granulated sugar 6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
Vanilla extract ½ teaspoon
Unsalted butter ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons ice cold, cubed
Salt 1/3 teaspoon
All-purpose flour 1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons
Baking powder 1 teaspoon

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:
Freshly pressed orange juice ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons
1 large orange 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

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). At this point I added an additional 1 Tbs of brown sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. 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. (I used 8 but didn't have enough, hence the meyer lemon decoration in the middle.)
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. [See YouTube video in the References section below for additional information on segmenting oranges.]

For the Caramel:
Granulated sugar 1 cup
Freshly pressed orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons

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:
Heavy whipping cream 1 cup
3 tablespoons of hot water
1 tsp Gelatine
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
orange marmalade (see recipe above) 1 tablespoon (I omitted this from the cream)
Zest of 1 meyer lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

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.
Resources:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-tian.htm (An article about the dessert known as tian.)
YouTube link on how to segment an orange: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG5mcEEBlcI
To learn more about Pectin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectin

Dulce de Leche Banana Cream Pie

This was amazing. I just have to figure out how to stabilize the dulce de leche because it ended up making the pie a runny mess, which is why I don't have a photo. But it was a delicious runny mess. I used the Dorie Greenspan recipe for pastry cream with an extra teaspoon of vanilla (I did use a vanilla bean as well), almost a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg and lightened it a bit with sweetened whipped cream after it had cooled. I made the dulce de leche in the oven using David Labovitz's brilliant method and made the trusty Smitten Kitchen all butter crust. I layered the dulce de leche, bananas (thinly sliced), and pastry cream twice. Oh my, it may be my new favorite pie, and I don't usually get excited about banana cream. So if you have any ideas on how to stabilize the dulce de leche, let me know.

Nana's Bread

Yesterday I decided to bake Nana's bread. Growing up I thought her bread was the best in the world, but during the last 10 years it simply became the best toast in the world, but untoasted it was just ordinary. Making her bread 3 times in the past week has helped me figure out what happened. The original recipe (from my great grandmother) calls for melted shortening. After my Papa's heart attack and subsequent surgery 6 years ago she started using olive oil instead and replaced the sugar with honey. She also started baking the bread longer, why I don't know. I've tweaked it a bit and last night the loaves where moist and delicious. I made 3 loaves of bread and used the last quarter of dough to make what just might be the best cinnamon rolls of all times.

Nana's White Bread

3 tsp dry yeast

2 1/2 c warm water

4 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/3 c olive oil

1/3 c melted butter

6 Tbs sugar

6 tsp salt

2 c warm buttermilk (use the real thing, not powder)

7 to 9 c all-purpose flour

Sprinkle the yeast onto the warm water and add a pinch of sugar. Let sit until yeast has proofed and risen considerably. Meanwhile combine 4 cups flour and baking soda in a very large bowl. In a smaller bowl combine the olive oil, melted butter, sugar, salt, and buttermilk. When yeast has proofed add along with buttermilk mixture to the flour and baking soda. Stir to combine with a wooden spoon. Continue to add flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. When dough becomes too difficult to stir, knead in the remaining flour. (Don't add too much and don't add too little. With practice you'll figure out just how much to add.) Knead the dough 100 times, adding more flour as needed, until dough is smooth and satiny. Shape into a ball, rub top with olive oil, and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Set in a warm spot to rise. (This can take 2 to 3 hours.) When dough has doubled in size punch down and cover and let rise a second time. When dough has again doubled punch down and divide into fourths. Grease 4 bread pans (or 3 if you want to make cinnamon rolls). Flatten each quarter of dough, removing all of the bubbles, and roll up to make a loaf, being sure to pinch the seam and the ends. Place in pan, seam side down. Repeat with remaining dough and once again cover and let rise until doubled. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool slightly in pans (about 3 minutes) and then remove from pans and let cool completely on cooling rack.

***Cinnamon roll variation

You can obviously use all of the bread dough to make these cinnamon rolls rather than just a quarter, but it will make a lot!

If you like raisins, combine 1 c raisins with 1 c boiling water and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Let sit until they absorb some of the liquid, then drain and set aside until ready to use. This is very good!

Before flattening dough knead in:

zest of 1 orange

1 vanilla bean, scraped

2 T sugar

until mixed into dough. Flatten as much as possible and brush with melted butter. Generously sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. (Be generous!) Add raisins if using. tightly roll up into a long log and cut with string or floss every 1/2 inch. Place rolls into greased 9x13-inch pan and cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool slightly then cover with glaze.

Glaze

1 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 T melted butter

2 to 6 T milk

Stir until combined. Adjust milk/sugar proportions to reach your desired consistency.

I firmly believe cinnamon rolls should be eaten warm. Simply pop one in the microwave for 20 seconds and prepare to become addicted.

My First Daring Baker's Challenge - Heaven on a Dessert Plate!

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

RECIPE SOURCE:
Mascarpone Cheese – Vera’s Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese
Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits – Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home
Tiramisu – Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007

My Substitutions:

• The zabaglione calls for Marsala wine but instead I used sweetened fresh orange juice instead with an extra teaspoon of vanilla.
• The original recipe calls for 2 cups of brewed espresso, but instead I simmered 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, 4 tablespoons sugar, and 2 cups of water in a small saucepan until thickened and combined. I omitted the teaspoon of rum extract and instead added 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

If you never make this recipe you should at least make the mascarpone cheese. The tricky part is finding cream that is NOT ultrapasturized. I found such cream from a local dairy so it is possible. It is amazing, not difficult at all, and once you've made it for yourself you won't buy it from a store again.

When I made my goals for 2010 I decided it was time to become a Daring Baker. I eagerly waited for the recipe reveal date and couldn't believe that my first challenge consisted of making my own mascarpone cheese, lady fingers, and a dessert that contains ingredients that I don't use due to religious beliefs. So after making a few substitutions, and several days of preparation, I created this beautiful desert for our Valentine's celebration.

I decided to make the dessert in a serving for two, and wrapped it with a chocolate ribbon. I lined souffle dishes with plastic wrap and then assembled the tiramisu according to the directions in the recipe. After chilling overnight I was able to finish them off with a chocolate ribbon.

I should have tempered the chocolate to give it a sheen, but I was running short on time so I simply folded a piece of plastic wrap into thirds and with an offset spatula spread melted dark chocolate on the plastic wrap. I let it cool until it was firm enough to mold and molded it around a can covered in plastic wrap that was the same size as the tiramisu. After letting it set a few more moments I unmolded it from the can, peeled off the plastic wrap, and molded it around the tiramisu on the serving plate.

Don't these layers look divine?

The remains. I froze the remaining two, thinking it would provide me with a treat later on, but wouldn't you know it even tasted amazing frozen?

Dear Kathy,

I haven't forgotten. And now it has to be amazing because I promised it by the end of the year and that was almost two months ago. So if you have any requests, let me know. It will happen, eventually. Thanks for being patient.

Adrienne

An accounting.

So I still have 5 lbs to go, not bad considering there have been 2 full weeks of sickness, and therefore 2 full weeks without exercise, in my life since I first set my goal, as well as several occasions for which I had to make treats containing vast amounts of butter and sugar. I am getting closer to my goal and I am also only eating those things that I truly want (for the most part) which is a good thing. Since I have been sick I have craved homemade chocolate pudding, baked apples with maple cream cheese, and my mom's spaghetti. I have made the first two items, and they were divine, but not the last because no matter how hard I try I just can't get it to taste exactly like my mom's spaghetti. I have also realized that I don't want to make my own spaghetti when I am sick, I want someone else to make it for me. And that someone is in Salt Lake. Sick with pneumonia. Maybe someone should go make spaghetti for my mom instead.

Waffles

This is another recipe from Eating Well. They are delicious, and even better when served with leftover raspberry puree from the cupcakes (see previous post) and lemon or orange curd, which if you make the wedding cake cupcakes is the perfect answer to the question of what to do with all of the leftover egg yolks. Maple syrup, is of course, always perfectly lovely and even better with a touch of freshly whipped cream.

Waffles
2 c buttermilk
1/2 c rolled oats
2/3 c whole wheat flour
2/3 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1/4 c brown sugar
1 T canola oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Mix buttermilk and oats in a medium bowl; let stand for 15 minutes.

Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Stir eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla into the oat mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients; mix with a rubber spatula just until moistened.

Coat a waffle iron with cooking spray and preheat. Spoon in enough batter to cover three-fourths of the surface (about 2/3 cup for an 8-by-8-inch waffle iron). Cook until waffles are crisp and golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter.