Orange Tian with Kumquat Marmalade and Saffron Citrus sauce

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 is a dessert sure to tickle your taste buds with sunny citrus flavor shining through in every layer.The dessert is made of 4 luscious layers: a pate sablee with orange marmalade, a cream layer topped with fresh orange segments and served with an orange sauce.The dessert is assembled upside down and unmolded,so that the bottom layer (the orange segments) becomes the top layer.We had the liberty to use any kind of citrus and fortunately I had access to a range of citrusy delights,I went for distinct citrus element in each layer.With Orange and Grape fruit in the segment layer,followed by orange blossom in the cream,finally kumquat marmalade over the zesty pate sablee.


Recipe : Orange Tian with Kumquat Marmalade and Saffron Citrus sauce
A notable change I made for the cream layer is of use agar-agar(the extract from seaweed available in most Asian markets),vegan substitute for gelatin to stabilize the light cream,it worked perfect.Also I did not treasure any cookie cutters,so for molding ,the used olive tin cans were an economical substitute.Just had to carefully cut the other end of the can like the opening end.



Makes 8 round desserts(about 3 inches diameter)
Ingredients
For the Pate Sablee
All-purpose flour 1 /2 cup(200grams)
Baking powder(alum-free) 1 teaspoon(4 grams)
1 Organic Egg
2 tablespoon dark brown sugar or palm sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder(optional)
1 teaspoon Orange zest
Unsalted butter 2 tablespoons ice cold, cubed
Salt 1/3 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 egg, orange zest 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 homogeneous 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 1/4 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 Kumquat Marmalade or Orange Marmalade:
Freshly pressed orange juice 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons; 3.5 oz; 100 grams
8-10 kumquats or 1 large orange
pectin 5 grams
1/4 cup brown sugar or palm sugar

Method
Finely slice the kumquats or orange. Place the slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water.
For kumquats no blanching is required ,cook 20-22 minutes until tender.
For Oranges ,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(kumquats or oranges).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 4 oranges and 1 large Grape fruit or 6 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 Saffron Citrus Sauce :
2 cups fresh squeeze Orange juice
2 tablespoon brown sugar or palm sugar
pinch of saffron
1/4 teaspoon agar-agar(for thicker sauce)

Place the juice ,saffron and sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.Reduce to 1/2 its original quantity and dissolve agar-agar for a little more thicker sauce.Cool in fridge.


For the Light Cream :
Light cream 1 cup; 7 oz; 200 grams
3 tablespoons of hot water
2 tablespoon Agar-agar or 1 tsp Kosher\Halal unflavored Gelatin
1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon Orange blossom water

Bring the milk to a slow boil,add the gelatin or agar agar,stir well and cook until completely dissolved.Turn off heat.Mix in blossom water.Let cool just until the mixture starts to set.Then proceed to layering it.

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 snugly 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 prepared 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.


Check out other daring beautiful attempts of Tian at DB blog roll.