Happy birthday to our dear friend Judy! I hope it’s a good one!
I’m so glad it’s Friday and that Greg decided to stay home the entire day. This is definitely a good start to the weekend. Last night, we feasted upon delicious breakfast for dinner and ended the evening with the blood orange tart below… topped with ice cream.
Tart in the states, galette in France, crostata in Italy. Whatever you call them, they are scrumptious! Just like the Ina tart from a few days ago. As I said earlier this week, I bought a large amount of blood oranges since they are in season for a short period of time this late winter. After the all-around bad sorbet a few days ago, followed by a recovery with the sorbet recipe yesterday, I was ready to go another dessert route. I made a mini-tart/galette/crostata and yes, my second tart this week.
The crust recipe is one that you can use to make other tarts in whatever shape you’d like with other fruit or savory ingredients. It’s a handy one to have around thanks to Zoe Nathan, showcased at Food & Wine some time ago. I thought it was beautiful and readers know how much I love rustic-looking food making it an easy call.
This tart does require a lot of refrigeration and freezing time but would be great to freeze the day before you wish to serve it to guests for brunch or dessert, add some ice cream, whipped cream or the salted caramel sauce that Zoe provided. I have yet to master candy, especially caramels, so I used the vanilla ice cream that I forgot was in the freezer and didn’t go the sauce route but salted caramel does sound right up my alley. Mmmmm.
Blood Orange Tart from Zoe Nathan on Food & Wine
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 1 tbsp unsalted butter, the stick cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
3 tbsp ice water
8 to 10 blood oranges
1 large egg yolk mixed with 2 tbsp of water
In a food processor, pulse the 1 cup of flour with 2 tbsp of the sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the stick of cold butter and pulse several times, until it is the size of peas. Sprinkle the dough with the ice water and pulse just until moistened crumbs form. Turn the crumbs out onto a work surface, knead once or twice and pat the pastry into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
On a floured work surface, roll out the pastry to an 11-inch round, about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the pastry to a parchment paper–lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes, or until chilled.
Meanwhile, peel the blood oranges, removing all of the bitter white pith. Thinly slice 2 of the oranges crosswise; remove the pits. Transfer the orange slices to a plate. Working over a sieve set over a bowl, cut in between the membranes of the remaining oranges, releasing the sections into the sieve. Remove the pits and gently shake out as much juice as possible without mashing the sections; you will need 1 cup of sections. Reserve the juice for another use.
Arrange the orange segments on the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of the sugar over the oranges. Using a paring knife, thinly slice the remaining 1 tbsp of butter over the oranges. Fold up the pastry over the oranges, leaving most of the oranges uncovered. Brush the pastry with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with 1 tbsp of the sugar. Arrange the orange slices on top, leaving a 1-inch border of pastry all around. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tbsp of sugar on top. Freeze the tart until solid, at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375. Bake the tart on a baking sheet directly from the freezer for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the pastry is deeply browned. Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack and let the tart cool for 30 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream or the salted caramel sauce.
Salted Caramel Sauce
Makes 1 ½ cups
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp light corn syrup
3/4 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp gray sea salt, crushed
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil over high heat until a deep amber caramel forms, about 6 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream, butter and salt. Let the caramel cool to room temperature. Place in jar and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Microwave the sauce for up to 30 seconds to pour.