Mandarin orange and matcha entremet


It's nearly that time of the year again!

The highly anticipated festival of the year for millions okay, billions of Chinese all over the world.....

Food and lai see, anyone?! lol 


Mandarin oranges/tangerine/satsumas are in season right now and a popular after dinner dessert for some Hongkongians. During Chinese New Year, mandarin oranges are considered a traditional symbol of abundance and good fortune (Wiki)


I want to make something a bit festive as a nod to the coming Year of the Dog. Since mandarin oranges are in season, very cheap and also an auspicious food, why make something out of these refreshingly sweet fruit? If you haven't tried freshly-squeezed mandarin orange, you're in for a treat!

These East meets West mini gateaux consist of 4 layers , mandarin orange mousse, matcha genoise sponge, mandarin orange jelly and mandarin orange glaze.




This is actually my 2nd batch of filled mousse, my first batch turned out a bit disappointing as 6 out of 8 pieces, had these hollow parts, where the sponges are not fully covered. You can easily remedy it actually by patching the errant sides with leftover mousse that is, if you haven't eaten the leftover..... 

The mousse on its own tastes really good, adding some Grand Marnier, really accentuates the flavour of mandarin oranges.

As you can see from the photo of the jelly below, the leftover jelly, by the way, as I was too lazy to make another batch. I can only get 6 pieces out of the leftover so I used 1 piece of store-bought jelly, and cut it in half, presto!

I go the easy way when it comes to another layer. Thinking of making a matcha dacquoise ( almond and hazelnut meringue) but settled instead to my favourite and easy to make matcha genoise sponge.

The orange glaze is semi-homemade, the natural mirror glaze is store-bought as I can't find the copies of my 2 glaze recipe. And that's actually a good thing as that store-bought glaze is quiet good with no odd aftertaste. Combined with mandarin orange juice and even added few drops orange colour gel, it  tastes surprisingly refreshing as the citrus taste really shines through!

I had one or more like, 3 minutes of scary moments when I poured the glaze (100ºF) and it just slides off. I thought maybe the orange juice is too thin to make a decent glaze? The recipe is not actually an orange glaze but a raspberry one and I sub it with orange juice. So I scraped the glaze from the baking sheet, pour it back onto the cup, re-heated it again and waited for it to cool down to 86ºF before pouring it. It seems to work and done it 3 times of scraping and re-heating before I got the desired thickness of the glaze.

Now for the leaves, nope, not edible, of course! Those are the washed and scrubbed leaves of the mandarin oranges......

Aren't they look adorable and squeezable?! 

Yup , it tastes as pretty as it looks lol 


Recipe adapted from Indulgence Mousse Cake (Bilingual Cookbook) 

Mandarin orange mousse

150 grams (freshly-squeezed) mandarin orange juice
70 grams (vanilla) sugar
15 grams custard powder
10 grams (Grand Marnier) orange liqueur
300 grams whipping cream
15 grams gelatine sheets
5 grams drinking water

* Soak gelatine sheets in cold water until softens, about 10 minutes. 

* In a small bowl, mix together 50 grams orange juice and custard powder, stir until smooth.

* Pour in 100 grams orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat. Add in the custard mixture and stir constantly until thickens, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a heat-proof bowl, let cool. 

* In a small heat-proof bowl, combine soften gelatine and water. Place bowl in a saucepan with barely simmering water, stirring from time to time until gelatine is completely melted. Keep mixture warm.

* Beat cream until soft peaks form, add in orange liqueur and orange custard, mix until well incorporated. Add in the melted gelatine, stirring as you pour, mix thoroughly. 

Matcha genoise sponge , baked in two 6-inch round pan (make this a day ahead)

* Cut matcha sponge into two 1/2-inch slices, one slice will yield 7 pieces using a scalloped-shaped cutter (1/4-inch size). See photo below. Set aside until needed.

Mandarin orange jelly (make this a day ahead)

10 grams gelatine sheet, soak until softens ( squeeze off excess water before using)
230 grams (freshly-squeezed) mandarin orange juice
15 grams sugar
35 grams drinking water
5 grams (Grand Marnier) orange liqueur

* Line an 8-inch (7-inch for a thicker jelly) round pan with foil, set aside.

* Combine orange juice, sugar, water and soften gelatine in a small saucepan. Let boil, stir until gelatine is completely melted, let cool slightly and add in the orange liqueur, stir to combine then pour into the prepared pan. Chill in the fridge until set. 

* Use a scalloped-shaped cutter (1/4-inch size), cut 8 pieces of jelly (6-mm thick), set aside until needed.

To assemble the mousse and filling

* Pour in about 1/4 cup of orange mousse into each cavity of the silicone mould ( see photo below). Put in 1 piece of orange jelly in the middle, pour in more mousse on top of the jelly until it fills up the rim of the mould. Place 1 piece of matcha sponge on top gently pushing it down then add in a bit mousse to cover it. Use a metal spatula to level the top, scraping the excess mousse on top. Continue with the rest until each cavity is all filled up. 

* Place mould into a baking sheet and freeze for at least 8 hours before unmoulding.

* Unmould orange mousse and place each piece on a wire rack, put back into the freezer until needed, at least 30 minutes before glazing. 

Mandarin orange glaze, makes about 280 grams

110 grams (freshly-squeezed) mandarin orange juice
14 grams gelatine sheets, soak until softens (squeeze off excess water before using)
160 grams store-brought (Aldia) natural mirror gel
few drops of (Americolor) orange gel

* Combine orange juice and soften gelatine in a small mixing bowl, place bowl on top of a saucepan with simmering water. Stir until gelatine is completely melted, add in the mirror gel and stir until well-incorporated. Add in few drops of orange gel and stir until well combined.

* Strain glaze into a heat-proof measuring cup, let cool to about 86ºF/30ºC.

Glazing and decorating

2 mini matcha Pocky, finely chopped
some mandarin orange leaves and stems, throughly washed and pat dry with paper towel

* Take out mousse from the freezer, place wire rack on top of a clean baking sheet.

* Pour glaze on each mousse, (pour glaze 3 times), scraping the excess glaze from the baking sheet and back into the measuring cup, re-heating if needed, continue glazing until each mousse is completely covered. Transfer to the fridge to set for 10 minutes.

* Transfer each entremet on a small cake holder, scraping excess glaze from the bottom. Place entremet on a baking sheet and leave to defrost in the fridge for at least 2 hours. 

* When ready to serve, decorate bottom with chopped matcha Pocky and gently place leaves on top. 

* Don't eat the leaves lol 






Comments

  1. This is really amazing work, Anne, I totally love it! I bet they are a big hit when you make them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. They look like real mandarine :-) Lots of work and patience..thumbs up for you, Anne.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Anne, could you please tell me which mould did you use ? The brand or the dimensions ? Thank you! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Sis, please Google Silikomart Truffle mould. The one I used is a copycat version 😁

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