Mandarines Glacées aux Perles des Alpes

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small sharp paring knife
• •Narrow teaspoon or grapefruit spoon
• •Standard muffin tin to support the shells
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •2-quart heatproof bowl and saucepan for the bain-marie
• •Digital instant-read thermometer
• •Electric hand mixer or sturdy whisk
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the pearls

   Spread the Chartreuse bonbons in one layer on a small plate and freeze them for at least 2 hours. Chill a mixing bowl and the whisk or beaters for the cream. Cold is part of the structure here: warm bonbons soften at the surface and bleed their Chartreuse syrup into the mousse, while frozen ones stay distinct.

2. 2

   Hollow the shells

   Wash and dry the fruit. Choose the six soundest mandarins and cut a neat lid from the top fifth of each, keeping every lid with its shell. Slide a narrow teaspoon between the flesh and peel, lift out the segments gently, and leave enough white pith to support the shell. Stand the emptied shells and lids in a muffin tin. Press the removed flesh and the two extra fruits through a fine sieve, then measure 1 cup (240 ml / 245 g) juice. If a shell tears, use one of the spare fruits for a new shell and add the damaged one to the juice. Ça se rattrape.

3. 3

   Cook the mousse base

   Sprinkle the gelatin over the tablespoon of cold water and leave it for 5 minutes. Whisk the yolks, sugar, and measured juice in a heatproof bowl, then set the bowl over a bain-marie, a hot-water bath held at the barest simmer. Keep the bowl above the water and whisk steadily until the mixture lightly coats a spoon and reaches 180°F / 82°C, about 8 to 10 minutes. Do not let it boil. At the first sign of graininess, lift the bowl from the heat, whisk in 1 tablespoon of the measured cold cream, and strain immediately; gentle heat will give you a smooth base, while a hard boil gives you sweet scrambled yolk.

4. 4

   Cool and lighten

   Remove the bowl from the bain-marie and whisk in the bloomed gelatin until completely dissolved. Strain the base into a clean bowl set over ice and stir until cold, slightly thickened, and no warmer than 68°F / 20°C. If it begins setting into lumps, warm the bowl for a few seconds over the still-warm water and whisk it smooth. Whip the remaining cream to soft peaks, then fold it into the tangerine base in three additions. The finished mousse should hold a soft mound, not pour like cream.

5. 5

   Fold in pearls

   Set the mousse over ice for 10 to 15 minutes if it still runs from the spatula. Only when it is cold and softly holding should you add the frozen Chartreuse bonbons. Fold them through with three or four broad turns, keeping every pearl whole. If the mousse loosens, stop and chill it over ice until it mounds again before filling the shells. This is the step that decides the dish.

6. 6

   Fill and cover

   Spoon the mousse into the six cold tangerine shells, distributing the bonbons evenly and filling each shell just to its cut edge. Fit the matching lids back in place. Freeze the covered fruits upright in the muffin tin until the mousse is firm throughout, at least 4 hours.

7. 7

   Frost the shells

   Work with one frozen fruit at a time. Brush the peel and lid with the thinnest possible film of ice-cold water, avoiding the seam, then return it to the freezer for 10 minutes. Repeat once or twice until the orange skin carries a fine crystalline rime. Large drops make a hard clear glaze, so blot them away before freezing and rebuild with a thinner coat. Give the finished mandarins a final 45 minutes in the freezer.

8. 8

   Temper and serve

   Set each mandarin on a chilled dessert plate and leave it at cool room temperature for 5 to 7 minutes. The mousse should yield cleanly to a spoon without slumping, and the Chartreuse pearls should remain whole inside it. Tip each lid slightly askew at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose large, firm tangerines with tight, unblemished peel. This dish truly needs fresh fruit because the peel is both mold and serving vessel; small thin-skinned clementines tear too readily and hold very little mousse.
• •The proper pearls are small, sugar-shelled Chartreuse bonbons no larger than a pea. Soft chocolates, gummies, or a splash of loose Chartreuse change the texture and lose the little concentrated bursts the source requires. Buy the bonbons before you begin.
• •Keep the candies frozen until the last possible moment. If they sit in the mousse while it is warm or loose, their shells dissolve, and the filling becomes uniformly herbal instead of studded with distinct pearls.
• •Chartreuse bonbons contain liqueur, so make that plain to guests. Serve the mandarins with demi-sec Champagne or strong coffee, and nothing piled around them. The frosted fruit is already its own presentation.

Advance Preparation

• •The bonbons can be frozen several days ahead. Hollow the shells and strain the juice up to 1 day ahead, then replace the lids, wrap the shells airtight, and keep them cold so the peel does not dry.
• •Fill and freeze the mandarins up to 2 days before serving. Apply the fine water frost on the day of service, then keep the finished fruits uncovered in the freezer so the crystalline surface remains visible.
• •Once filled, keep the mandarins continuously frozen. They are best within 2 days, before the peel dries and the bonbon shells begin drawing moisture from the mousse.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 120g)