DB: Orange Cranberry Tian(ne)

This dessert has the same name as me!!! It's like play on my own name - Tianne (rhymes with Dianne) - or Tia for short :)

A tian is a baked French dish composed of many layers of vegetables and herbs. The name comes from the earthenware dish it was traditionally cooked in but tians can be made in any kind of deep dish such as a casserole, dutch oven or baking pan. The dish originated in the Alpes-Martitimes region of Southeast France and tians are popular across Provence and throughout France.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.



This was a lot of fun to make. Many little components went into it but preparation could be broken up over several days. A few of the tweaks I made:

Used half whole wheat flour for the dough

Topped the Tians with homemade cranberry sauce instead of orange segments (a great complement to the orange marmalade)

Used vanilla ice cream instead of whipped cream for some of them. I think I preferred the ice cream filled ones.

I could definitely see making these for the holidays. The color and presentation were beautiful and I like how versatile this dessert is. Thanks for a great challenge! I found this short version of the recipe to be a helpful guide to making the Tian.