Blood Orange Tart

It's cold. It's raining. And lately, it seems like blue is in fashion. Oh well.
In spite of everything, I found the way to turn to my week-end into a different color. At the farmers' market this time I couldn't resist to lemons, oranges, sweet limes, blood oranges, grapefruits and pomelos, just because they're happy and smiling (you see, despite the appearances, you have to admit that I'm pretty easy going: two mandarines is all it takes to make me happy).

Back home, I've realized I've gone a little too far with the shopping list. :-0
What does a girl with a little tiny kitchen do with a ton of citrus? A real dilemma. Ten glasses of juice and one Vitamin C indigestion later, I thought I might be better off relying upon other resources, much more imaginative than I am. So, browsing here and there, I ended up baking this thing.
I'm now all ready and vaccinated to face yet another Monday.


Blood Orange Tart
for one 8" diameter tart

For the tart dough
flour 150 gr.
butter 75 gr.
sugar 35 gr.
baking powder 1/4 teaspoon
salt a pinch
cold water 2 tablespoons

For the topping
almonds about 50 gr.
blood oranges, small 7-8
sugar, butter to taste
egg yolk to brush the crust

For the base I've made an eggless pastry crust. With the amount indicated above I ended up with an 8" diameter tart, you can make it larger keeping the same weight proportions: butter half of the flour, sugar half of the butter. Easy, isn't it?

In a large bowl, mix flour with sugar, salt and baking powder. Add cold butter, cut in pieces, and mix it with the flour rubbing it with your finger until you get a crumbly dough. Add a couple of tablespoons of cold water and work the dough until it gets smooth, trying to be as quick as possible in order not to warm up the butter. Shape it into a ball, wrap it in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for at least one hour (I've made the dough the night before).
Meanwhile toast the almonds in the oven, then grind them finely with one tablespoon of sugar so that they won't release their oil.
Remove the dough from the fridge, roll it out in a 1/4" thick circle and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the surface with almonds, leaving an edge of approximately 1 inch.
Peel the oranges and eliminate all the white skin, then cut them into thin rounds, trying to discard the seeds. Sprinkle the almonds with sugar and some dots of butter, then cover with the orange slices. Sprinkle another couple of tablespoons of sugar on top. Lightly beat the egg yolk with two tablespoons of cold water and brush the tart edge with it. Fold it over towards the inside, then brush it again with the egg wash.
At this point, freeze the tart for at least one hour, in order for it to be really cold at the time of baking (you can also wrap it in plastic and freeze it, it will last for about two weeks). Bake it at 375 straight from the freezer and for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, until the crust turns a nice brown color. Let it cool completely before serving. If you don't like blood oranges, I suggest trying it with a different kind of fruit, because baking the oranges intensifies their bitter taste.

Chocolate Orange Tart

To wrap up the week with a sweet touch, here is a tart that I've made many times before, taking the recipe from the online forum of the magazine La Cucina Italiana.
This time though, I've substituted the chocolate filling with the Nutella-like spread I made few weeks ago (the one made with dark chocolate), which has been haunting me for days, demanding attention.
I had almost succeeded! One whole week without making any dessert, not a cookie, not a tart, not a pudding. And then, at the very last moment, here I am, giving in to Nutella (I have a feeling I've already heard this one...).
Oh well, let's celebrate another Friday!


Chocolate Orange Tart
for a 9" diameter tart pan

For the pastry dough
pastry flour 170 gr.
confectioners' sugar 70 gr.
butter 100 gr.
egg yolks 2
grated zest of one orange, salt

For the filling
orange marmalade 200 gr. circa
dark chocolate 200 gr.
whipping cream 100 gr.
sliced almonds (optional) to taste

Sift flour on the work surface. Take butter out of the fridge, cut it in small cubes and rub it with the flour using your fingers, until you get a crumbly dough. Make a dwell in the middle and put sugar, egg yolks, orange zest and salt. Mix them with the flour using a spatula and work the dough until it gets smooth, trying to be as quick as possible so that it won't get warm. Wrap in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for at least one hour before using it. Pastry dough can also be prepared one or two days ahead and kept in the fridge until ready to use.
Roll out the dough and place it in the baking pan, cover with parchment paper and put a layer of dried beans on top (you can use the ceramic weights instead), so that the crust won't rise as much while baking. Bake at 340 for 20 minutes, take out the beans and parchment paper and bake for about 20 minutes longer, until it turns of a light golden color.
Let the tart shell cool completely. Take it out of the pan and spread a layer of orange marmalade on top, and then a layer of dark chocolate, previously melted with the cream using a bain maire (as I was telling you earlier, instead of the chocolate-cream filling, this time I've used the chocolate-hazelnut spread, slightly warmed in a bain maire so that it would be easier to spread).
If you'd like, sprinkle the surface with sliced almonds. Let it cool in the fridge before serving.

Tart with Grapes and Frangipane Cream

Frangipane cream always makes an impression. It has a beautiful name to begin with, so sweet and intriguing at the same time. Frangi what?, they usually ask me when I make it. I don't quite know what it is, but the name sounds good. Eh eh eh....
And it's really good indeed, so almondiciously good that I recommend you always make plenty of it. Because, even raw, it disappears by the spoonful...


Grape Tart
with Frangipane Cream

For the Tart Dough
flour 250 gr.
sugar 100 gr.
butter 100 gr.
eggs 1
baking powder 8 gr.
vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon
a pinch of salt

Sift flour and baking powder on the table. Take butter out of the fridge, cut it in small pieces and rub it with the flour using your fingers, until you get a crumbly dough. Make a dwell in the middle and put sugar, egg, vanilla extract and salt. Lightly beat these ingredients with a fork, then start mixing them with the flour using a spatula. Work the dough until it gets smooth, trying to be as quick as possible so that it won't get warm. Wrap in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for at least two hours before using it. You can also prepare the tart dough one or two days in advance and keep it in the fridge until ready to use it.

For the Frangipane Cream
butter 80 gr.
sugar 100 gr.
blanched almonds 100 gr.
eggs 2
flour 40 gr.
almond extract 1 tablespoon

To Finish
seedless red grape two or three handfuls
slivered almonds, confectioners' sugar to taste

For the cream: toast blanched almonds in the oven for few minutes, making sure they don't get too dark. Grind them finely in a food processor until they turn into flour. Beat eggs with sugar until they are fluffy, add butter cut in small pieces and keep mixing at high speed. Add flour, almond flour and almond extract and mix until you get a smooth cream. Refrigerate until ready to bake.
To bake the tart: roll out the dough and place it in the baking pan (I used a rectangular pan, approximately 14x4"), cover with parchment paper and put ceramic weights on top (you can also use some dried beans instead), so that the crust won't rise too much. Bake for 15 minutes at 350, take out the weights and parchment paper and cover with a thick layer of frangipane cream. Wash grapes and dry them thoroughly. Cut them in half and place them on top of the cream with cut side down, pressing them slightly. Cover with slivered almonds. Put the tart back in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes more, until crust and cream turn a nice golden color.
Let it cool completely, then dust the surface with confectioners' sugar.

End of Summer Tart

They say if you learn how to make puff pastry, the whole world will be at your feet, Google will be your friend forever and Prince Charming will knock at your door bringing an electric mixer as a gift. Yet, despite all these tempting promises, I'm still not sure I want to attempt such labor-intensive dough, possibly wasting pounds of butter in many trials and spreading flour all over my so-called-kitchen.

Yesterday, though, I found this recipe for a semi-puff pastry, described as a good warm-up for those who are thinking of challenging the real deal one day, and I decided to give it a try. The source is Christine Ferber, the jam woman, who few years ago came out with a second book entirely devoted to tarts, both sweet and savory.

The result is really excellent, especially since the dough is quite simple after all, and it's also pretty quick to make (not considering the time it needs to rest and the time you'll need to read the recipe and to decipher the explanation of the process to follow).

I only have one question left: now that I know how to make a semi-puff pastry, do you think I have to expect a Prince without the mixer or am I allowed to ask for a mixer without the Prince?


End of Summer Tart

For the Semi-Puff Pastry
pastry flour 250 gr.
butter, very cold 150 gr.
sugar 1 tablespoon
salt 1/2 teaspoon
iced water 2-4 tablespoons

Sift flour on the work surface. Cut butter in small cubes and add it to the flour, tossing very quickly (in order to have a very cold butter, after cutting it in cubes I put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes before proceeding with mixing the dough). Make a well in the middle, add salt and sugar and a couple of tablespoons of water (which also has to be very cold). Start kneading the dough to combine ingredients, but take care not to overwork it and that the butter bits remain visible. If necessary, add a little bit more water, but in order to have a good result it's better to use as little as possible.
Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Now, lightly dust the work surface with flour, and using a rolling pin press the dough into a rectangle a little more than 1/2 inch thick.
Fold it in thirds, as if it were an envelope: fold the top third down and fold the bottom third over it, like wrapping it (much more difficult to explain it than to actually do it, I swear). Rotate the dough 90 degrees to the right, wrap it with plastic and let it rest in the fridge for at least another 10 minutes. From now on, pay attention to keep then same direction of rotation and to keep the same side touching the work surface (again, lots of words that simply mean that you have to put the dough in the fridge and take it out as it was, without turning it over and without rotating it in the opposite direction).
Dust the work surface with flour, roll the dough into a rectangle again and fold it in thirds exactly as before. Rotate the dough of another 90 degrees to the right. Wrap it in plastic and put it in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Now you have to repeat the process for the third time: roll it into a rectangle, fold it in thirds, and rotate it 90 degrees to the right. This is the third and last fold and it's better to do it the next day. Once you're done with it, keep the dough in the fridge for at least half hour before rolling out the tart base.

For the Tart
ripe peaches and/or nectarines, both yellow and white about 4
brown sugar 4-5 tablespoons
sugar 2-3 tablespoons
melted butter 4-5 tablespoons
almond flour 50 gr.
slivered almonds to garnish

Take the semi-puff pastry out of the fridge and roll it in a circle of approximately 1/8 inch thick. Prick the surface with a fork. Cover the bottom of the shell with almond flour (it'll help absorbing peaches' juice while baking).
Melt the butter. Wash the peaches and the nectarines, dry them with a kitchen towel and cut them in slices approximately 1/8 inch thick. Arrange them nicely on the tart shell, leaving an empty edge of about 2 inches. Fold the edge over the fruit, trying to seal it with your fingers. Brush the peaches and the edge of the tart with melted butter, sprinkle the fruit with brown sugar and the tart edge with regular sugar. Cover with slivered almonds to garnish.
Bake at 400 for about 40-45 minutes, until the tart turns golden brown.
Let it cool on a rack before serving.