I had a few oranges left over from “poaching” my neighbors, John and Amy’s, trees. Luckily, I saw a Jaffa cake on GBBO which gave me the idea of created a Jaffa-ish dessert. Populate in Britain, Jaffa cakes include sponge, orange and chocolate.

I also had some pistachios left over from another project so I made the “cake” a pistachio flavored one. Actually, I didn’t make a cake, I made cookies, where they should have been biscuits. Whew! That’s a convoluted way to say I made pistachio flavored – mouse filled – cookie based tempered chocolate domes. Hmmm, that’s not much shorter, is it?

The orange paired nicely with the chocolate but the combination of those flavors overpowered the pistachio. I made some plain pistachio cookies with leftover dough and they were excellent. To make the pistachio cookies leave the rolled dough about 1/4” thick.

JAFFA DOME “CAKE”

Procedure Outline:

1. Make orange jelly 1/8” thick – refrigerate
2. Make whipped cream – refrigerate
3. Streak silicone molds with melted white chocolate – allow to cool
4. Coat white chocolate streaked silicone molded with tempered dark chocolate – 2x – allow to cool between each coating
5. Make pistachio biscuit 1/8” thick – allow to rest a couple of minutes
   a. While warm, cut into appropriately sized disks to fit in silicone molds –
   b. allow to cool. They should snap like a biscuit.
6. Make vanilla mousse
7. Fill domes ~ ¼ full with mouse (piping is easiest)
8. Insert appropriately sized cut disk of orange jelly into each mold
9. Cover jelly with vanilla mousse
10. Fit pistachio biscuit over bottom of mold
11. Cover biscuit with vanilla mousse
12. Pipe tempered chocolate around the edge of the bottom.
13. Cover bottom with a layer of tempered dark chocolate – approx 1/8” thick.

(Note: my orange jelly and biscuit were too thick (1/4” each) so I reduced the amount of mousse in each cup and couldn’t cover the bottom of the dome with chocolate. The directions reflect appropriate changes. Next time!)

Orange Jelly

INGREDIENTS

• 600 ml (2½ c) Orange juice, about 5-6 oranges
• Orange zest from 3 oranges
• 50 g ( ¼ c) Sugar
• ¼ teaspoon Salt
• 65 g( ½ c) Cornstrach
  METHOD

1. Grease 9-inch (24cm) square pan or similar size pan with oil and set aside.
2. Zest two oranges and place it in a sauce pan.
3. Squeeze the juice from the oranges and measure 2½ cups (600ml). pour the juice into the pan.
   Add the sugar, salt and cornstarch.
4. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly until thickened, about 6-8
   minutes.
5. Pour the mixture into prepared pan, spread to 1/8” thick, allow to cool to room temperate, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Vanilla Mousse – Vegetarian

INGREDIENTS
WHIPPED CREAM – YIELDS 1 ½ CUPS OF WHIPPED CREAM
• 1 c whipping cream
• 4 tbl confectioners sugar
• 1 ½ tsp Cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla
WHITE CHOCOLATE
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 3 tbl whipping cream
AGAR AGAR
• 2 tsp Agar Agar
• 2 tbl warm water

METHOD

WHIPPED CREAM

1. Before beginning with the recipe, place the mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for at least 10 minutes to chill.
2. Once the bowl has chilled, add heavy cream and vanilla and beat on low speed until the cream starts to thicken slightly.
3. Add the cream of tartar and powdered sugar and beat with increasingly higher speed until stiff peaks form. Once done, set it in the fridge to chill.

AGAR AGAR MIX

1. Mix 2 tsp Agar agar powder with 2 Tbl lukewarm water
2. Whisk to combine
3. Let set 4 – 5 minutes for the agar agar to bloom

VANILLA MOUSSE

1. Heat the white chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave. Start with one minute, stir. If not melted try 15 seconds and stir again, then 10 seconds.
2. Add agar agar mix and stir for 5 minutes. It will be thick like jelly, that’s ok. The white chocolate and agar agar will turn smooth and shiny.
3. Add 2-5 Tbl warm milk and mix until the chocolate is thick but runny. Don’t add too much
4. If desired add a few drops of white food coloring to lighten the yellowish mixture and mix well
5. Gently fold the cool to touch white chocolate [and agar] mixture into the cool whipped cream until combined. Do not beat and deflate the mousse
6. Add remaining 1/3 cup of ground pistachios and gently fold into vanilla mousse.

Pistachio Shortbread Cookie

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 and 1/4 (281g) cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (100g) finely chopped pistachios, divided

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line a double layer cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat together until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla, salt, and flour and beat on low speed, gradually increasing to high speed as the mixture combines. Don’t over mix. Add 2/3 cup of the finely chopped pistachios, reserving the rest to add to the mousse.
3. Roll the dough out between sheets of parchment paper on the cookie sheet.
4. Bake the shortbread for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned on top and around the edges.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
6. Cut appropriate sized circles. Be sure the circles are ¼” less diameter than the molds, allowing 1/8” space around the cookie for chocolate.
7. I ended up cutting 1/8” bits off the circumference of the large cookies.