Mandarines à la Crème

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small sharp knife
• •Grapefruit spoon or narrow dessert spoon
• •Small heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Electric hand mixer or balloon whisk
• •2-cup or larger measuring jug
• •12-cup muffin tin for holding the shells upright

Instructions

1. 1

   Shape the shells

   Finely zest one tangerine, taking only the orange surface. Cut a neat cap from the stem end of every fruit, about one-fifth of the way down, and keep the caps. Working over a bowl, slide a small spoon between the flesh and peel, then lift out the segments without piercing the base. Trim away loose central pith, but don't scrape the shells thin. Set them upright in a muffin tin and chill. Press and strain the removed fruit, measuring 3/4 cup (180 ml / 180 g) juice.

   Loose-skinned fruit is far easier to hollow than tight little clementines. If one shell tears, keep its juice and use a small glass or ramekin for the extra filling.
2. 2

   Concentrate the juice

   Pour the strained juice into a small saucepan and simmer gently until reduced from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup (120 ml / 120 g), about 8 to 12 minutes. This reduction is the flavour foundation: it gives the Bavarois clear tangerine character without flooding it with water. Transfer it to a jug and let it cool.

3. 3

   Bloom the gelatin

   Put the cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the surface. Leave it untouched for 5 to 10 minutes, until every grain has swollen and the mixture resembles a soft sponge. Don't pour water over a mound of gelatin; the dry centre will remain lumpy.

4. 4

   Cook the crème anglaise

   Warm the milk and tangerine zest until small bubbles gather at the edge, then remove it from the heat and cover for 5 minutes. Whisk the yolks, sugar, and salt until smooth. Pour in the warm milk gradually while whisking, return everything to the saucepan, and cook over gentle heat with a spatula until the crème anglaise, the stirred custard, reaches 79 to 82°C and coats the back of the spatula. Never let it boil. If a few egg flecks appear, pull it off the heat immediately, whisk hard, and strain it over a cold bowl. Ça se rattrape. Heavy curds and a cooked-egg smell mean the custard went too far and must be remade.

   Draw a finger through the custard on the spatula. When the line remains clean instead of flowing closed, the crème anglaise is ready.
5. 5

   Reach the ribbon

   Remove the custard from the heat and stir in the bloomed gelatin until completely dissolved, then strain it into a clean bowl. Let it cool to about 45°C before whisking in the reduced tangerine juice. Set the bowl over ice water and stir steadily until the mixture reaches 24 to 26°C and falls from the spatula in a ribbon that remains visible for a moment. If it starts setting firmly around the edge, lift it from the ice and stand the bowl briefly over barely warm water, whisking until smooth. Ça se rattrape. If it remains thin, return it to the ice and keep stirring; don't ask the cream to thicken a warm base.

6. 6

   Finish the Bavarois

   Whip the first 1/2 cup (120 ml / 120 g) cream to soft folds, not stiff peaks. Stir one-third of it into the ribboned custard to lighten the base, then fold in the remainder. This is the somewhat thick tangerine Bavarois called for by the original recipe. Transfer it to a measuring jug and note its volume without packing it down. Measure cold liquid cream equal to exactly one-third of that volume, about 2/3 cup (160 ml / 160 g) for 2 cups (480 ml) Bavarois, then fold it through in two additions. The measurement governs, not the estimate. If the mixture becomes very loose because the room is warm, chill it for 5 minutes and stir once before filling.

7. 7

   Fill and chill

   Spoon the Bavarois into the cold tangerine shells, stopping just below each rim. Keep the shells upright in the muffin tin, cover without touching the filling, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until softly set. Chill the peel caps separately. The original bed of ice held a dining room's worth of fruit; the refrigerator gives eight shells the same steady cold with less commotion. Don't freeze them, because freezing turns the custard grainy and damages the peels.

8. 8

   Bring them cold

   Transfer the mandarines to a chilled platter and rest each cap slightly askew so the pale apricot filling remains visible. Serve directly from the cold. The spoon should pass through a tender set, then meet a filling that tastes first of concentrated tangerine and only afterward of cream. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose fragrant, loose-skinned tangerines with peels free of soft spots. Because the shells come to the table, scrub and dry them well before cutting; unwaxed fruit looks and feels better in the hand.
• •The source calls for fresh raw cream. At home, use pasteurized heavy cream and keep the final portion uncooked and unwhipped. Truly unpasteurized dairy adds risk, not technique, while cultured crème fraîche would change both the acidity and the set.
• •Measure the finished Bavarois by volume before adding the liquid cream. One-third is the defining proportion. If your fruit is small and filling remains, chill the excess in a little glass rather than overfilling the shells.
• •Powdered gelatin varies in strength. This amount assumes ordinary culinary gelatin near 200 bloom and gives a tender set; don't add extra merely for reassurance, or the filling will bounce under the spoon.

Advance Preparation

• •The filled mandarines may be made up to one day ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator and add the peel caps only when arranging the platter.
• •The shells can be hollowed and the juice reduced several hours before making the custard. Refrigerate both separately, keeping the shells upright so they retain their shape.
• •Serve within two days. Gelatin continues to tighten in the cold, so the filling is most delicate after 4 to 24 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 85g)