Date Chocolate Orange Entremet

For the Spongy Date Layer:

• 100 gr pitted and chopped dates;
• 150 ml water;
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda;
• 30 gr butter, at room temperature;
• 45 gr sugar;
• 1 egg;
• 75 gr self raising flour.

+ 75 gr orange marmalade to spread on top of the baked date sponge.

In a saucepan bring the water and the dates to a boil, then add bicarbonate of soda and stir. It'll start to bubble since the bicarbonate of soda is an alkali and neutralize the acids of the dates. Remove from heat. Let cool then blend until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 180º C. Grease and line with paper a 22cm square cake pan.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well. Fold in the flour and the date puree until just combined.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 22 minutes. The cake should be soft and spring back when touched. Cool on a wire rack. Trim the edges and fit the sponge layer into a 20 cm square frame. Spread the orange marmalade into an even layer on top of the date sponge.

For the Dark Chocolate Mousse:

• 85 gr dark chocolate 75% cocoa
• 20 gr sugar;
• 5 gr glucose;
• 10 gr water;
• 25 gr egg yolks;
• 175 gr whipping cream.

Make pate a bombe - beat the yolks until very pale in colour. On medium heat cook the sugar, glucose syrup and water to 118°C. Drizzle the syrup over the yolks beating all the time. Beat until cool. The batter should be thick and foamy.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave, watching out not to burn it. Then fold it into the pate a bombe.

Whip the cream until soft peaks. Fold 1/3 of the cream into the chocolate-yolks mixture. Then fold in the remaining cream.

Pour the mousse over the orange marmalade layer.

For the Orange Mousse:

• 50 gr orange marmalade (blended);
• 15 ml rum;
• 135 ml freshly squeezed orange juice(it's ok if there is some orange flesh in it);
• 3 gr milk powder;
• 15 gr sugar (A);
• 40 gr egg yolks;
• 1,5 gr agar agar powder;
• 20 gr egg whites;
• 30 gr sugar (B);
• 10 gr water.

In a small bowl mix orange marmalade and rum, cover and place in the fridge.

Make orange custard. Beat the egg yolks, sugar(A) and agar powder until light. In a small saucepan combine orange juice and milk powder and bring to a boil. Pour the hot juice in a thin stream over the yolks while beating. Transfer the mixture into the saucepan and bring to 85º C.

Make Italian meringue. Cook sugar(B) and water to 118º C. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then pour in a thin stream the hot sugar syrup and beat to glossy peaks

Mix the refrigerated marmalade into the custard, then fold in the Italian meringue.

Quickly pour the orange mousse over the chocolate mousse into a uniform layer.

For the Orange Jelly:

• 220 ml freshly squeezed orange juice;
• 30 gr sugar (to taste, depending how sweet are the oranges);
• 3 gr agar agar powder.

Combine all the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Let cool a little bit but not too much since the agar agar starts to set at around 40-45º C. Pour a part of the jelly into an even layer over the orange mousse. Pour the other part into silicon bonbon moulds, to use later for decoration.

For the Orange Tuiles:

• 45 gr butter;
• 30 gr confectioners' sugar;
• 25 gr glucose;
• zest of 1 orange;
• 30 gr all purpose flour.

In a small saucepan, mix butter, sugar, glucose, orange zest and bring to a boil. Remove from the stove and mix in the flour. Let cool.

Preheat the oven to 170º C. Line baking pan with paper or silpat. Drop small balls of the batter (the size of hazelnut) spacing them 10 cm apart. In this case, since we broke the tuiles to smaller pieces, we used one bigger piece of the mixture. Bake for around 9-10 minutes, or until golden. Let cool. Store in an airtight box till needed.