The Mandarin

Mandarin and mango gel with a light vanilla mousse, almond crumble and honeycomb. A complex, light and delicious petit gateaux.

The celebrations for the Lunar new year have just come to an end, but I still have one more recipe in celebration. This time it is my take on the mandarin. Mandarins have a lot of significance in Chinese culture, as a symbol of wealth and good luck, so it’s perfect during this period of celebration.

I’ve been working on this mandarin dessert for at least a month now, creating multiple different versions of itself, tweaking the flavour profile, the look, etc. I needed it to be perfect…. Why? Because this is the dessert I created for the first time in a commercial kitchen!! I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of an amazing team the The Rice Den, a modern Cantonese restaurant, for the past year. Recently, I had been working with them to produce these desserts as part of the annual Chinese New Year banquet which was held last Friday night. It’s been a new experience… As someone that has only made desserts in small quantities, the production of 90+ desserts all at once was definitely a challenge, and I wouldn't of been able to do it by myself. I’ve been blessed with a cohort of supportive coworkers that are always providing me with feedback on my desserts, and on top of that a mentor to guide me through the process. Roy Chan the head chef and owner has not only given me the opportunity and freedom to create my own desserts within a professional environment, but has also been there every step of the way. Whether that be coming into the kitchen at 8am on his day off, or going out to buy the ingredients I need. I can’t express how grateful I am for the support and encouragement I have received despite not having any commercial experience. I still have so much to learn, especially when it comes to kitchen operations, organising, cleaning…. but I’m getting better slowly, and I hope I can share that process with everyone!

Stay tuned because there is more coming! If any of you are in Sydney this Valentines day and weekend, come by The Rice Den to try my Chocolate, Caramel and Banana Cube as a Valentines day dessert with your loved ones, I’ll be there too!

Back to the Mandarin recipe… I wanted to incorporate the flavours of mandarin due to its cultural significance, but it is hard as they are completely out of season. Instead of using mandarin as the major flavour component I incorporated other seasonal fruits like mango! It’s important to take advantage of seasonal produce when it is at its peak, and so the centre of this dessert is made of a mandarin, mango and orange gel. This combination is zesty, super refreshing, and is complemented by the vanilla mousse and almond crumble that surrounds it. The honeycomb provides that extra touch of sweetness and crunch that ties it all together. I agree that’s a lot of effort for a dessert that turns out smaller than the size of an egg… but it is the interplay of all the textures and flavours that really bring this dessert to life. If you want to take on a project over two days or so why not give it a go!

The Mandarin

Print Recipe

Mandarin and mango gel with a light vanilla mousse, almond crumble and honeycomb. A complex, light and delicious petit gateaux.

• Yield: 18 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Mandarin Confit

• 150 g Whole mandarins
• 100 g Sugar
• 200 g Water

Orange Glaze

• 100 g Water
• 200 g Sugar
• 200 g Glucose
• 130 g Condensed milk
• 7 g Gelatin sheets
• 220 g White chocolate
• Orange oil-based food colouring

Orange Gel

• 100 g Orange juice
• 50 g Water
• ½ tsp Agar agar powder
• 15 g Sugar

Mandarin and Mango Insert

• Orange gel, all
• 35 g Confit, finely chopped
• 120 g Fresh mango, chopped into small cubes
• 30 g Lemon segments, chopped into small pieces

Vanilla Mousse

• 75 g Thickened cream
• ½ tsp Vanilla
• 66 g Sugar
• 57 g Yolks
• 1 ½ Gelatin sheets
• 282 g Whipped cream

Orange Coating

• 100 g White chocolate
• 100 g Cocoa butter
• Orange oil-based food colouring

Almond Crumble

• 50 g Almond meal
• 50 g Unsalted butter
• 50 g Brown sugar
• 50 g Plain flour

Honeycomb

• 50 g Sugar
• 42 g Golden syrup
• ¾ tsp Baking soda

Assembly

• Compound white chocolate, melted with green oil based food colouring and set into small stems
• Small mint leaves

Instructions

Mandarin Confit

1. Wash the mandarins and poach them in water for 15 minutes
2. Remove and cut into quarters
3. Cover with water and sugar
4. Bring to a boil and simmer until skin is tender and translucent (about 2 hours)
5. Boil syrup down to 103 °C and reserve with mandarin segments
6. *Excess can be minced and used as a mandarin marmalade

Orange glaze

1. Soak gelatin sheets in cold water
2. Combine water, sugar and glucose together and cook until 103 °C
3. Mix in the gelatin sheets, condensed milk and white chocolate
4. Blend with an immersion mixer
5. Sieve and chill completely, overnight
6. Rewarm to 32 °C before using

Orange Gel

1. Heat up the orange juice
2. Sprinkle agar agar and sugar on top and boil rapidly for 2 minutes
3. Leave to cool in fridge until set

Mandarin and Mango Insert

1. Blend the orange gel with an immersion blender
2. Fold in the mango, confit and lemon
3. Add into the 3cm hemisphere moulds and freeze

Vanilla Mousse

1. Soak gelatin sheets
2. Heat cream and vanilla
3. Whisk sugar with egg yolks and add the heated cream
4. Return to heat and heat until 84 degrees
5. Remove from heat and add gelatin, cool to 25 °C
6. Fold in whipped cream and place into a piping bag
7. Fill 4cm hemisphere moulds to half way, placing a frozen mango and mandarin insert in the centre
8. Level off and freeze

Orange Coating

1. Melt cocoa butter and white chocolate together
2. Add orange food colouring
3. Cool to 45°C before use

Almond Crumble

1. Combine brown sugar, butter, flour and almond meal with fingertips
2. Roll half out to 2mm thick and cut out 18 circles 4cm in diameter for the base
3. Arrange the rest in a crumble like texture on a baking sheet
4. Bake at 180 °C for 10-15 minutes

Honeycomb

1. Heat sugar and golden syrup on the stove until a medium caramel colour
2. Add the baking soda and whisk
3. Pour immediately onto a silicon mat and let cool
4. Freeze to store

Assembly

1. Remove from the mould and add a blob of leftover mousse on the top to shape into a mandarin shape, freeze
2. Shape using gloved hands, freeze
   Remove from freezer and dip into prepared orange coating and then straight into the orange glaze
3. Place on top of a disc of almond crumble
4. Thaw in fridge
5. Attach leaf and stem decorations and serve with crumble and honeycomb