Daring Bakers 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.

To tell you the truth, my heart wasn’t really into this challenge from the start – something to do with the FIVE batches of macarons I had to make to get presentable ones for March’s Mactweets and how exhausted I was after that ordeal…  In any case, after I picked myself up and dusted myself off, I gave myself a day to get the prep done for this multi-step recipe so I could assemble, photograph and eat it the following day!

Maybe because I didn’t overthink it, this challenge was actually a lot more simple than it appeared as I was reading through the recipe.  I completed the pastry, the marmalade, the caramel, the orange segments and the cream all in the space of about 90 minutes and then it took only about 15 minutes to assemble the following day.

It’s a beautiful dessert visually and I loved the flavours.  I was particularly impressed with how easy the marmalade was to make!  The only “sticky point” (pun intended!) was the caramel which I had to make twice (this multiple attempt thing is clearly a March theme…).  The first time it was very liquid (even though I did not use the full amount of orange juice) but it was perfect for soaking the orange slices in overnight.  The second time I reduced the liquid even more and it was a lovely colour and consistency, except it when it cooled, it was VERY thick and sticky and made the tian nearly impossible to eat as the spoon stuck to the caramel and the caramel made the cream part collapse.  You can see the spectacular mess on my plate at the end of the post.  Were I to make this again, I might simply make a regular caramel sauce, like this one, and add perhaps some orange flavour.  I was pretty pleased with this attempt, in any case, and would love to experiment with it again.

So without further ado…

Pâte Sablée

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
All-purpose flour 1.5 cup + 2 tablespoons; 7 oz; 200 grams
baking powder 1 teaspoon ; 4 grams

Salt 1/3 teaspoon; 2 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 Celsius.
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.

Marmalade

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
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.

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.

Caramel

Ingredients
granulated sugar 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
orange juice 1.5 cups + 2 tablespoons; 14 oz; 400 grams

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.

Whipped Cream

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

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.

“La fin!” as my students love to say!

69 thoughts on “Daring Bakers Orange Tian”

  1. Personally, ditch the rest and just give me the marmalade on a nice (double-toasted) English muffin…

    Actually I think this was nice, but my teeth came out into the spoon with the caramel, preventing a proper tasting. 😉

    Reply
  2. Your tian looks lovely! I participated in the challenge for the first time. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed an orange dessert!

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  3. I think the tian looks just amazing, even with the heavy caramel! Great work, and with all that macaron making as well!! You’re a superstar. 🙂

    Cheers!
    C

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  4. I skipped the caramel altogether, so I guess you made my portion too ;D. Your tian looks so delicious! Ironically, my favourite photo is the one with all of the caramel on top =D.

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  5. I didn’t have time to make this (nor the last one) but now I’m filled with remorse. It looks yum, and I don’t have any fillings so I would feel safe eating it too. Might have to console myself by shoving a Caramello Koala, some marmalade, a digestive biscuit and some milk in my mouth at once.

    Reply
    • That sounds like a Top Chef Challenge – take a caramello koala, a digestive, marmalade and some cream and make a dessert. You have three minutes and access to all the ingredients in the Top Chef pantry. Your time starts now…

      Reply
  6. Your tian looks fantastic! I was wondering where the caramel sauce was in the first picture… My sauce didn’t get so thick, but maybe that’s a good thing!

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  7. Ah wow yours looks excellent, Im glad you enjoyed doing it and found it easier than you thought it would be 🙂 definately looks like you did a great job :).

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  8. This looks delicious! And the pictures made me anticipate those ending ones even more. It really looks complicated to me, but then, it would.

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  9. Those look great! I too used a springform pan but then realized that size could really feed 2 or 3, not just one individual. Had trouble with the caramel the first time through as well. Great job though!

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  10. Mardi…I need to know your tricks! How on earth do you work full time, blog more frequently than anyone I know, and still keep up with Daring Bakers among other projects? Give me your secret!!! This looks awesome–we’re overflowing with citrus here in CA right now, and while I’ve got a few desserts slated for this upcoming week, I’m keeping this one in mind.

    (and in other news, your mini SF treat is finally packaged up and will ship out this week!!!)

    Reply
    • Well I am actually trying to cut down on my posts since I know it’s hard to keep up with ppl who post too often…. Just lately there has been a lot to post about… Thanks for the kind words and you should definitely try this one out – I would love to see your interpretation of it!

      Reply
  11. These look beautiful! I love citrus desserts, and I actually really wanted to make the Orange Tian, but I totally ran out of time. I still might given the recipe a try another time, even though I missed my chance on the DB challenge!

    Reply
  12. Each element sounds wonderful and come together so beautifully in the final presentation! I’m totally hooked by the marmalade, however – I’d love a batch of that on hand for my morning toast (or pancakes)!

    Reply
  13. Mardi, you still did an awesome job. There are so many components on this dessert and each component requires time to make. I just hope I do get to taste them made by you. The orange marmalade are worth making though. I love them for dressings and marinades.

    Reply
  14. wow, you’re right – it’s visually beautiful. and even with the sticky caramel, it sounds like it was delicious!

    Reply
  15. Simple? It doesn’t look at all simple, so I am happy that you added your time frame in your post. The step by step photos help a lot, too. I have read others, and this one has assured me it may be possible to accomplish in one morning (or less) and that it just might be worth the time spent.
    Thanks, Mardi!

    Reply

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