Tangerine Almond Cake Wtih Blueberry Basil Sauce Recipes

TANGERINE-SCENTED ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Peel the tangerines and place the peels in a small saucepan. Add cold water to cover and bring to a boil. Drain the peels, add fresh cold water to cover and bring to a boil again. Drain, rinse under cold running water and drain again. Dry completely with paper towels.
• In a food processor, combine the almonds and tangerine peels and process until finely ground. Strain the juices from the tangerines through a sieve set over a bowl, pressing against the fruit to release all the juice.
• In a large saucepan, combine the almond mixture, granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the tangerine juice and simmer, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved, about 7 minutes. Let cool.
• Shape tablespoon-size portions of the mixture into 1 1/2-inch-thick pear shapes, wetting your fingers with the remaining tangerine juice to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. Dredge each cookie in confectioners' sugar to coat. Wrap the cookies individually in cellophane or cover tightly in a container. Let stand 3 days before serving. They will keep for 7 to 10 days.

TANGERINE-ALMOND CAKE WTIH BLUEBERRY-BASIL SAUCE

Steps:

• Put tangerines in a large pot and cover with water. Toss in the vanilla bean - do not slice open! Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook whole tangerines for about 2 hours until they are tender (soft when you squeeze them gently with tongs). Remove from pot and allow to cool. Scrape vanilla bean and set seeds aside.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Over a large bowl, cut tangerines and remove any seeds. Squeeze to release excess water.
• Line the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Spray the bottom and sides of the pan.
• In a food processor, grind almonds until they turn into a course, powdery substance. Add the tangerines (with skin) and grind until the mixture forms a smooth, thick paste (some chunks of almonds and tangerines will be visible).
• In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add sugar and vanilla bean seeds and mix. Add baking powder and salt.
• Whisk tangerine-almond mixture into the egg mixture.
• Pour batter into the pan. Bake 60-70 minutes, rotating halfway through baking, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on rack.
• Make sauce: Mix blueberries with powdered sugar and basil leaves in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, adding about 2 tablespoons of water. Cook until juices form. Sweeten with more sugar to taste. At this point, you may either puree the mixture or simply remove the basil leaves and leave it clumpy. Serve over cooled cake.

BLUEBERRY SOUR CREAM CAKE WITH BASIL-BLUEBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Cake: Brush a 10" bundt pan with melted butter and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
• Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a bowl. In a stand-mixer bowl (or regular bowl and hand-held mixer), add sugar, softened butter and lemon zest. With paddle attachment, cream butter on high speed until very light, approximately 6 min, scraping paddle and sides of bowl often.
• Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix. Add approximately 1/3 dry ingredients and half of sour cream. Mix and repeat until all are added. Do not over mix.
• Fold in blueberries by hand then gently spoon into pan.
• Bake 75 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool for 10 min, invert onto a platter.
• Blueberry-Basil Sauce: In a pot, combine all ingredients, simmer 10 minutes.
• Remove basil sprigs, blend sauce with a hand blender or processor, strain (I used the back of a spoon to help pass the berries through the strainer); cool to room temperature and serve.