Saturday, March 27, 2010

Daring Bakers Orange Dessert Delight

Once upon a time in the Land of St. Honore' March came in like a lion, with rain and cold. It was a good time to gather in the living room as a family, basking in the glow of the television set. Maman put a frilly apron on over her sleek black outfit, then put the coffee pot on. As she set the dessert delight she had made onto pretty little plates and added the caramel orange sauce she thought back to the fun she had had creating these light and citrus-rich morsels.

Although she had cooked and baked for years she had never segmented oranges as this recipe required. As the juice dripped off her hands into the bowl, she cradled the peeled orange in one hand and sliced next to each membrane to release the segments. The remaining membranes reminded her of a fan somehow.

Oranges add such a bright look and flavor, so welcome in winter!
She has also never made fresh marmalade, even though she loved it on toast. It was pretty easy to do and the taste so much fresher and lovely than the store bought kind. It was interesting that the whole orange was used and that the blanching removed a lot of the bitterness usually found when the pith is included in recipes. Here's the slices being blanched:



Soon she was layering the caramel covered orange segments,

a lovely whipped cream based band of white, and fresh marmalade on a sweet, crisp cookie.

Once chilled and put on the plate it looked like a dessert you would see at a fine restaurant. The sauce added just the right touch of extra elegance.



As her family gathered to watch the Academy Awards ceremony and to see if they had guessed correctly on Best Picture, she served them the Orange Tians and freshly brewed coffee. The perfect dessert for a festive evening!

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.

Thanks to Jennifer for choosing such a delightful, delectable dessert! It was fun to make and even more fun to eat!



You can find the recipe here at Jennifer's blog. Do check out other Daring Baker's versions of this treat by using the Blogroll.

Thanks for joining me for the March 2010 Daring Baker's Challenge. Sweetie says orange you glad you did?

14 comments :

  1. I loved reading your post! Seems your tian went off without a hitch and as my mom's a coffee addict I know she would have enjoyed your way of presenting the tian...pity I couldn't DHL her one of mine.

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  2. Super job on the challenge and a lovely St Honore story once again. I love Maman in her sleak black outfit - perhaps she may meet Bond soon...

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  3. Beautiful, Elle. A great dessert to enjoy at a special moment.

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  4. Wow, that looks really tasty. My own personal High Five moment will be when I finally manage to perfect clementine pie; I think I may borrow some of your recipe elements to see what I come up with. I had something very similar to this yesterday, only with a custardy base and lemons.

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  5. always a great read! love the refreshing look of the tian. so perfect!

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  6. Your dessert looks divine. Love the caramel drizzle around the edge. So glossy

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  7. Anonymous1:50 AM

    The caramel looks AMAZING!!! Good job on the challenge!

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  8. This is now the second one I have seen - I'm getting more and more inspired. Your submission is sublime!

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  9. Beautiful job on the cake! This would have my husband drooling at your feet - he's a huge marmalade fan.

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  10. Great colours on the pictures.
    And a story well told, as always.

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  11. I'm so jealous..you segemented your oranges perfectly..demonstrated by the leftover 'accordian' membrane. I cannot segment to save my life lol That said..wow, your tian is just gorgeous..perfect segments, perfect caramel, perfect photos etc. Beautifully done all around!

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  12. Great job! I like your step by step photos.

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  13. I think this is in order...welcome back! I've missed your posts. Your tian looks wonderful. The emptied oranges kind of reminded me of those old fashioned Christmas ornaments with the yarn woven through the plastic grid and made into a 3-D ornament. Maybe that doesn't make sense! Oh well...great job!

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  14. Chantal, Yours is beautiful!...your Mom would love it.

    Dharm, Maman might meet Bond next month...the geography is right.

    Aparna, Thank you!

    Tanita, Would love to see your clementine pie...and you can 'join' the High-Five-ers just by using the logo and sending an e-mail to Lynn of Cookie Baker Lynn. Great idea!

    Meeta, much simpler than yours but we both learned something :)

    Katie, yours is lovely, too.

    ap269, thanks!

    Rose, this is a great dessert when it is warm. Refreshing and light!

    Lynn, the marmalade was really easy...and I'm still enjoying it on toast.

    Andreas, Glad you liked the story.

    Lisa, I found the segmenting tedious but curiously entertaining at the same time. Your tian is so nice!

    Tia, I like the variety of yours.

    Claire, Thanks...I've missed doing the challenges and writing the stories. I know what your mean about the ornaments...needlepointed ones look like that.

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