Grapefruit (formerly Orange) Tian
OK. I have to admit that when I first read the March Challenge, I was unimpressed. It didn't seem like something very exciting, or at least it didn't excite me. Which means, I put it off until the end of the month. We were given free reign with the citrus fruit to use, so I chose grapefruits. Grapefruits have a special place in my heart. I think they don't get enough recognition.
This bowl full of grapefruit segments looks surprisingly similar to a bowl full of orange segments, thanks to the poor lighting in my kitchen. They really all were the same pink that you saw in that first photo... An important lesson I learned this month is how to segment a citrus fruit like a pro. So, look for more segments in the future.
The original Tian recipe called for making individual sized desserts, but I didn't have the proper molds... There was a sidenote about making the dessert 'family style', and since I like my family, I decided to go with that.
The processes for this recipe were this: segment a bunch of grapefruits; make a grapefruit marmalade; make a grapefruit caramel; make a cookie-ish base (actually called a Pate Sablee); make the stabalized whipped cream with grapefruit marmalade swirled through; put it all together upside down, and flip it out of the pan.
The final dessert had a beautiful colour to it and held up remarkably well through the flipping out of the pan. It tasted mighty good (Mom, Dad and I all had second helpings about ten minutes after we licked off the first plateful) even though I undercooked the grapefruit caramel so it was missing the garnish (but it's better to undercook sugar than overcook it, like I did earlier in the week and had to air out the house from the black smoke monster).
So, all in all, despite my initial hesitance, the recipe is a keeper. I'd like to try it with limes, but I think it might be too tart for most tastebuds.
Happy Baking!
- Carolyn
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