Chocolate-Orange Tartlets

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 4 m.-sized eggs
• 1 pinch of salt
• 120 g sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar, bourbon
• 120 g spelt flour, 630
• 1 tsp, crushed cream of tartar baking powder
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 3 tbsp, levelled cocoa powder
• 4 large oranges
• 250 ml orange juice, freshly squeezed, or direct juice
• 1 tsp, heaped orange peel grated or e.g. Finesse Orange
• 3 cl Grand Marnier or Cointreau
• 4 tbsp vanilla sugar
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar
• 9 sheets of white gelatin
• 250 g mascarpone
• 150 g natural yogurt, 3.5% fat
• 400 ml whipped cream
• 1 can of mandarin oranges
• 2 packs of cake glaze, clear
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 200 ml whipped cream
• 1 pack of cream stiffener
• 1 tsp, heaped vanilla sugar
• Chocolate glaze, for decoration

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 4 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 12 minutes; Total time approx. 5 hours 12 minutes

with piped chocolate lattice

For the chocolate sponge cake, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla sugar in a food processor for at least 6-8 minutes until very fluffy. Mix the sifted flour with the cornstarch, baking powder, and cocoa powder, then whisk by hand and lightly fold into the egg mixture. Preheat the oven to 190°C (top/bottom heat). Spread the batter onto a baking tray lined with baking paper or a baking frame lined with baking foil and bake on the middle rack for about 12 minutes (use a skewer to check if it’s cracked). After baking, remove the sponge cake from the baking paper or baking foil and turn it out onto a board. Use dessert rings to cut out at least 8 circles from the cake base and place them on a cake plate, leaving the ring around each circle (the remaining cake pieces can be frozen for making chocolates or cake pops). Now fillet the oranges and squeeze the juice from the rest of the oranges. Set aside 8 fillets for decoration. In a tall container, puree another 250 ml of orange juice (or bottled juice) and the orange liqueur with the remaining orange segments, 2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar and the orange zest. First, soak 6 sheets of gelatine. Mix the mascarpone and yogurt in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar until creamy. Fold in the whipped cream. Briefly heat the soaked gelatine in the microwave on the lowest setting and stir in the mascarpone cream a tablespoon at a time. Be careful not to have any lumps! Stir 5 tablespoons of the fruit purée into just under half of the mascarpone cream and, using a tablespoon, spread about 1 cm of the orange-mascarpone cream between the molds as the bottom layer. Drain the canned mandarin oranges, collect the liquid and set aside for making the fruit topping. Place 2 mandarins on top of the first layer of cream in each mold. Chill briefly in the refrigerator. In the meantime, first soak the remaining 3 sheets of gelatine, then squeeze and dissolve them. As described above, stir tablespoon by tablespoon into the previously set aside mascarpone cream. Now fill the molds with this cream until just below the rim. There must still be room for the fruit coating. To do this, heat the fruit purée in a saucepan, mix the cake glaze with 1 tablespoon of sugar and 2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid from the canned mandarins until lump-free, then stir into the fruit purée. Bring to a boil until it forms a pudding, and then spread the fruit coating onto the dessert molds. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or overnight if preferred! For the chocolate decoration, first line a baking sheet with foil, then heat the chocolate glaze in a double boiler and pour into a freezer bag. Let it cool briefly to make it easier to pipe. Cut off a small corner of the bag and pipe a grid pattern onto the foil. Allow to cool completely, then carefully break off small pieces using a cake spatula. Whip 200 ml of whipped cream with the cream stiffener and 1 heaped teaspoon of vanilla sugar until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag. Pipe puffs of cream onto the tarts, top with the remaining orange segments, and finally, carefully arrange the chocolate decorations. The recipe is a bit labor-intensive, but it’s definitely worth the effort! Tip: If you lightly oil the inside of the molds before filling them and sprinkle them with granulated sugar, they’ll be easier to lift off later without smearing the cream layers!