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Cooking
Orange Mini Cakes
· 4 servings
Food styling rings
If you want to make small round cakes, use round stainless steel food styling rings lined with clear dessert acetate strips.
Tip: a home-friendly alternative to rings
There's nothing wrong with using wine glasses or nice dessert bowls at home instead. In that case, you don't need as much gelatine, and the dessert will turn out creamier. Just two sheets will be enough for a light set.
Prepare the rings and nuts
Line the stainless steel rings with clear acetate strips and prepare the nut base. Place a sheet of foil underneath each ring.
Chop the nuts
Chop the nuts using a food processor or by hand. They don't all need to be the same size — a mix of coarser and finer pieces works best. Mix with sugar and tip into a frying pan.
Add butter, honey and liqueur
Toast over medium heat for about five minutes, then add the butter and honey, stirring until everything is well combined. Remove from the heat, add the amaretto, and stir again.
Fill the base
Let it cool slightly so it's not too hot (about five minutes), but not completely cold, or the mixture will set too firm. Spoon the nut mixture into the rings, spreading it evenly to the edges and smoothing the surface. Chill in the fridge.
Gelatine in orange juice
Squeeze the oranges. It's fine if there are bits of pulp in the juice — in fact, it adds to the flavour. Pour the juice into a small saucepan, add 3 tablespoons of sugar and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat and add the gelatine sheets.
Let it dissolve and whip the cream
Leave for about ten minutes, then gently warm to let the gelatine dissolve completely. Whip the mascarpone with sugar. Stir two tablespoons of this cream into the saucepan with the orange juice, where the gelatine has already dissolved.
Whip until smooth
Stir well, then carefully pour the contents of the saucepan into the rest of the mascarpone cream. Whip again until smooth. You'll end up with a wonderfully fragrant cream with a lovely orange flavour and aroma. Spoon this over the nut base in the rings.
Smooth and chill
Don't fill all the way to the top, as the cakes will be finished off with amaretto jelly. Smooth the surface and chill in the fridge for at least three to four hours, ideally overnight.
Make the sugar syrup
Pour the water into a small saucepan, add the sugar and simmer until the sugar dissolves. Add half a teaspoon of agar. You can replace this with clear cake glaze gel, following the instructions on the packaging. Either way, if using agar, simmer the sugar water for about 4 to 7 minutes.
Stir in the liqueur
Remove from the heat and stir in a tablespoon or two of amaretto. Mix well, let it cool slightly, then pour over the top of the cakes. Chill in the fridge again until set. Alternatively, you can remove the cakes from the rings first and pour the jelly on once they're on the serving plate.
Toast the nuts
Finely chop some more walnuts, add a little sugar and toast in a pan. Let cool, then sprinkle the crunchy nut mixture over the finished dessert.
Chocolate decoration
The final touch can be a dark chocolate decoration, which pairs beautifully with the orange flavour. Melt the chocolate over a water bath, load it into a piping bag or plastic syringe, and pipe shapes onto baking paper. Chill in the fridge until set.