Frozen Rhubarb And Banana Charlottes

Recipe from Tartelette.

Serves 4. The molds used are 3 inches tall and 3 inches across. 

For the Rhubarb "ladyfingers":
12 to 15 rhubarb stalks, cleaned and cut to measure 3 inches
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat your oven to 200F. With a sharp knife and without peeling the stalks, cut them into thin slices (1/8inch thick). Keep the ends and trimmings for later. Set them onto parchment paper lined baking sheets (or silicone ones), and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.
Cut strips of parchment paper to fit inside the molds and carefully line the inside of the mold with the sliced rhubarb easier to do if you lay the mold on its side). Place the rings in the freezer for a couple of hours.

Frozen Banana Mousse:
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 cup pureed bananas
1 cup heavy cream

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks with 1/4 cup of sugar until pale and fluffy. Fold the banana puree into the yolk mixture. Whisk the egg whites until they foam and add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 Tb. at a time and continue to whip until glossy. Fold the whites into the banana mixture. Whip the cream to soft peaks and add to the banana batter. Keep about 1/4 cup of the mousse to use as a sauce for plating if desired. Spoon the mousse into the rhubarb lined rings and freeze overnight.

Caramelized Banana Slices:
Cut 2 bananas into thin slices. In a pan, melt 4 Tb sugar with 4 TB butter, and cook until the sugar is melted. Add the bananas and cook them until barely soft. Remove them from the pan and let cool. It is preferable to do these the day you plate up the whole dessert.

Options for plating:
Cook down the bits and pieces of rhubarb you have left from cutting the slices with some sugar (to taste) until soft and jam-like and let it cool completely. If it becomes too thick the next day, thin it down with a bit of water to use it as a sauce.

To Serve:
Carefully unmold the charlottes from the rings by pushing down gently from one end, peel off the parchment paper. Quickly set the room temperature banana slices on top, use some of the rhubarb jam and leftover mousse for sauces.



Enjoy!

Tangelo Cakes with Rhubarb Cream

Ingredients
Tangelo Confit
2 tangelos, cut into 5mm-thick slices and seeds removed
2 cups water
1 cup sugar

Rhubarb Cream
250g rhubarb, cut into slices
¼ cup tangelo juice
¼ cup sugar
4 tablespoons mascarpone

Tangelo Cakes
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
½ cup tangelo juice (from about 2 tangelos)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
12 slices tangelo confit

Method
Tangelo Confit
Place the tangelos in a saucepan with the water and sugar, and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes until tender. Cool in the syrup.

Rhubarb Cream
Place the rhubarb, tangelo juice and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until the rhubarb is tender (around 10 minutes). Taste and add a little more sugar if necessary (it depends on the sweetness of the tangelos and rhubarb).

Allow to cool completely then mix gently with the mascarpone. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tangelo Cakes
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 12-cup muffin tray with oil and line the bases with rounds of baking paper. In a bowl beat the eggs and sugar until combined. Add the tangelo juice and olive oil.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a separate bowl. Add the flour into the wet mix a third at a time, combining well. This will make quite a runny batter. Pour into the muffin tins and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin. Top each cake with a slice of tangelo confit. Serve either warm or cold with a spoonful of the rhubarb cream. Serves 12.



Enjoy!