RCP and Recipe Challenge: Flakey Blood Orange Tart

[Jenise]

Wanna bake together again? The citrus chat and Robert J's comment about loving blood oranges made me dig out this recipe that I copied from a magazine when I was in Los Angeles a few weeks ago. Don't know which mag so I can't give proper credit, I only remember that it was a female pastry chef who prefers the title 'baker' for a Los Angeles area restaurant. The description, and the picture, had me drooling. I haven't tried it yet, but I will get to it this weekend, and I might make a meyer lemon version too.

Although the recipe calls for 8-10 blood oranges and the title is 'tart', the photo that accompanied the recipe showed something flatter and less volumous than either would suggest, rather like a pizza, and that's in part what looked so good to me--a delicious flakey sweet pie dough of sorts scattered with not-too-many slices of ruby orange lightly shrivelled from baking and brown with glints of burned sugar. Anyone else want to try this with me?

Here's the recipe:

1 c all purpose flour
1/4 c sugar
1 tblsp sugar, reserved for topping
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter cut up, chilled
1 tblsp butter, reserved for topping
3 tblsp ice water
8-10 blood oranges
1 large egg yolk mixed with 2 tblsp water

1) Pulse flour and sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Add butter, pulse to pea size. Sprinkle with water until nmoist crumbs form. Turn out on a surface, knead once or twice and pat pastry into a disk. Wrap, chilll 30 minutes.

2) Roll out to an 11 inch round about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer to a piece of parchment, chill 15 minutes.

3) Peel oranges. Remove pith. Thin slice 2 oranges, cut rest in supremes, put in sieve to drain. Shake out juice. You need 1 cup of "sections" (not sure if the recipe intended that to be supremes only or all.)

4) Arrange on cold pastry, leaving 2" border. Sprinkle 2 tblsp of sugar over, then cut remaining butter over.

5) Fold pastry edges up/in to keep juices from running.

6) Place the tart in the freezer until solid, about 4 hours.

7) Bake directly from the freezer at 375 F on parchment and on an open rack with a cookie sheet below to catch any drips. When done, let tart cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

Jenise,
How much butter is there in a 'stick'?
Thx,
Sue

[Jenise]

Jenise,
How much butter is there in a 'stick'?
Thx,
Sue

A quarter pound, Sue.

Now you've got me thinking, Jenise. And that usually leads to all manner of trouble. What I'm thinking is, leave the rind on the orange slices (very thin slices) and candy the slices. Then bake them on the 'pizza', as it were. OR, candy the rind you cut away and julienne that and then use that as part of the topping. Hmmm.....give me a few days but I'll probably do this and report back with pics.

rwj

[Jenise]

Now you've got me thinking, Jenise. And that usually leads to all manner of trouble. What I'm thinking is, leave the rind on the orange slices (very thin slices) and candy the slices. Then bake them on the 'pizza', as it were. OR, candy the rind you cut away and julienne that and then use that as part of the topping. Hmmm.....give me a few days but I'll probably do this and report back with pics.

rwj

Wish I had the magazine pics--I have a darned good pictorial memory, and as I typed this up I was shocked to read instruction to peel because I would swear that the picture included the peel, which in part is what made it rather tantalizing to me who loves the bitter peel. Indeed, the orange slices looked dehydrated/candied, and in the picture they seemed to all be slices--no supremes. Which, of course, rather wrongly puts a priority on the the food stylist's interpretation rather than on the dish as it's creator intended it, but still. I'll look forward to seeing what you do with this.

Wish I had the magazine pics--I have a darned good pictorial memory, and as I typed this up I was shocked to read instruction to peel because I would swear that the picture included the peel, which in part is what made it rather tantalizing to me who loves the bitter peel. Indeed, the orange slices looked dehydrated/candied, and in the picture they seemed to all be slices--no supremes. Which, of course, rather wrongly puts a priority on the the food stylist's interpretation rather than on the dish as it's creator intended it, but still. I'll look forward to seeing what you do with this.

I'v often noted that pics in magazine or recipe books look quite different to the result I would have expected based on the instructions - and these days it is often an accompanying pic that draws attention to a recipe. Some have additional garnishes or sprinklings that are not mentioned either and I'm left wondering 'what the ......'

I'd be careful of making this with already candied / dehydrated orange slices as they would dry out even more when baked. You might need to sprinkle more sugar over the fresh slices or segments to help candy the slices as they bake.

Anyone else want to try this with me?

You're on! ON my way to the store to look for blood oranges right now. I think Robert has the right idea about candying some portion of the fruit. I don't know which, but I'm going to give it a try. Sounds like Sunday Dinner dessert to me. See you in pictures.

I'll be doing something different. Similar but with a twist. See you in pics in a few days or so.

rwj

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/flaky-blood-orange-tart

I like Robert's idea of leaving the skin on...I have some honeybells and I think I may try this using those oranges...They are only in season for a few weeks, so why not...I like the "unfussy-ness" of this recipe...Pictures will be taken.

b

Okay, so I've already run across one issue that may potentially have an effect on the outcome of my dessert. I have only had blood oranges served to me, never bought one. when I was at the store to make a purchase, I noticed a marked difference in the appearance of the oranges. One looked quite like a naval orange with no visible signs that it is a different kind of orange, the other had a reddish tinge to the rind -- weight, texture and fragrance was the same. I bought some of each to use in the recipe. But, for the future, what should I look for?

Blood Orange.jpg

Blood Orange 2.jpg

I look for the reddish tinge.

rwj

Thx, Robert.

[Jenise]

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/flaky-blood-orange-tart

Bless you! That's the one!!! Now I ask you, does that look like 10-12 oranges?

[Jenise]

I look for the reddish tinge.

rwj

Jo Ann, I do too. The more red you see on the skin, the more red you find in the meat (or is it flesh) and, in my experience, the sweeter the fruit. The red blushes are like sunspots on apricots and nectarines, the places where the sun kissed and ripened them.

Sue, regarding dehydration, that's exactly what I'd have assumed until I had what I deduced to be partially dehydrated pineapple on a pizza a few weeks ago. The result was pineapple that was less juicy and had more texture than fresh--both positives.

Unless they are using kumquats, 10-12 oranges is a LOT of oranges, even for a deep dish tart pan. I would suggest that for this particular dish there are no more than 4-6. That's the number I bought. And, I expect to leave the skin on, thinly slice and use the 1/4 C sugar to make a simple syrup in which to first cook the fruit. We'll see what happens.

I've found that blood oranges can be fickle. When they are in season, and I buy a few, some are very good, others are not.
Anyway, the salted caramel sauce to serve with the tart looks wonderful.

It was a hit!

Flaky Crust2.jpg

This is a perfect recipe. I used 2 Tbsp sugar since I was going to put 1/4 C sugar into simple syrup.

Oranges.jpg

They were juicy and sweet. Slice 1/8" thick.

Sugar Bath2.jpg

Used 1/4 C sugar and 1/2 C water. Simmered slowly until most liquid evaporated.

Supremes in waiting.jpg

Used 2 oranges for slices and 2 oranges for segments. 4 oranges were more than enough for the tart.

Blood Orange Tart 010.jpg

Ready for the freezer. Sprinkled with 1 Tbsp sugar. Dotted with 2 Tbsp butter. Drizzled with remaining pan juices, mixed with remaining juices from pulp around the membranes.

Blood Orange Tart 013.jpg

The final product. The rind was mellow on the precooked orange sliced and the total product was moist and gently sweet. Tasted somewhat of rhubarb and rose petals and had a great end crunch from the flaky crust. This is a keeper! Thx for sharing, Jenise.

Jo Ann, your finished tart looks delish! I think it might be just the dessert for my post-Valentine's Day weekend getaway with my wife. Now, as to what wine might match with it... Suggestions, anyone? Maybe a bubbly of some sort, followed by a soak in the hottub.

Jo Ann, your finished tart looks delish! I think it might be just the dessert for my post-Valentine's Day weekend getaway with my wife. Now, as to what wine might match with it... Suggestions, anyone? Maybe a bubbly of some sort, followed by a soak in the hottub.

I served mimosas, laced with a hint of Grand Marnier.

Smooth, Jo Ann. Another goal for the FLDG!

rwj

[Jenise]

It was a hit!

Flaky Crust2.jpg

This is a perfect recipe. I used 2 Tbsp sugar since I was going to put 1/4 C sugar into simple syrup.

Oranges.jpg

They were juicy and sweet. Slice 1/8" thick.

Jo Ann, your tart looks exactly like what I imagined the written recipe to result in (and nothing like the picture in the magazine). Beautiful! I didn't get to mine yesterday as planned--woke up with a migraine. Better today though, and your pictures are inspirational. (Great photography, btw.) And all that with only four oranges? Perfect, and about what we thought--what insane person wrote this recipe in the first place?