My neighbors gave me a BIG bag of oranges from their trees. The navel oranges in the markets have been very disappointing this year, but these are wonderful.

Usually I give them something made with their oranges in appreciation of their generosity. This time I made chocolate/orange tarts with a vanilla custard base. They tasted good, but looked poor to fair. They baked well with all the components done perfectly. The problem is the top, and therefore the appearance has no “snap.” They would not catch your eye in a patisserie (I will re-make them on the next rained out golf day.)

A 1/8” layer of vanilla custard was poured into the bottom of each tart shell. The tart was baked for 10 minutes at 450° F to set the custard. A layer of chocolate filling was piped over the custard followed by a spiral of the orange crème. A toothpick was used to feather the orange crème.

Chocolate Orange Tart with Vanilla Custard

Yield: Five 4” tarts.
INGREDIENTS
Tart Shell
• 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes
• 60 g icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 egg – 1 for the dough and the other 1 egg white reserved for an egg wash
• 200 g all-purpose flour
Chocolate Filling
• 75g butter
• 115g dark chocolate (no more than 60% cocoa solids), finely chopped
• 115g caster sugar
• 55g AP flour
• 4 medium eggs
Orange Crème
• 25g butter
• 50g white chocolate
• 1 orange, finely grated zest only
• 35g caster sugar
• 25g AP flour
• 2 medium egg yolks
Cream Custard
• 1 ½ cups (350 ml) whole/full fat milk (1 ¼ c 2% plus ¼ c heavy cream)
• 6 large egg yolks
• ¼ cup (45 grams) granulated/caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

METHOD
Tart Shell

1. Mix butter with sugar
2. Add salt then vanilla
3. Add egg and mix until incorporated
4. Stir in flour. Mix by hand like you are kneading bread until incorporated
5. Pre-heat oven to 350° F
6. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
7. Butter tartlet pans, or use non-stick pans
8. Roll dough to about ⅛” thick
9. Lay over tart mold and press into all crevices
10. Roll top to cut off excess
11. Prick holes in bottom and sides of formed dough
12. Fill tarts with pastry weights. For mini tartlet pans I put beans in a cupcake paper. For large pans use crumpled parchment paper filled with beans. Remove 5 minutes before the end of the bake.
13. Paint edges of the tartlet with the egg wash.
14. Bake in preheated oven 350° F (175 C) for 15 min
15. Immediately remove from pans and cool on a wire
    
    Chocolate Filling
16. Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and flour. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and leave to stand.
    
    Orange Crème
17. Melt the butter and white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the orange zest, sugar and flour. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time and pour the mixture into a jug.
    
    Cream Custard
18. Add the milk to a saucepan over medium heat. Just heat until it starts to lightly simmer, do not boil. Turn off the heat.
19. Add egg yolks and sugar to a separate mixing bowl, vigorously whisk (or use a hand blender) until pale and bubbly. Remove the milk from the heat and very slowly drizzle into the egg yolks while whisking. Whisk in the vanilla if using. Transfer the mix to a container with a spout.
    
    ASSEMBLY
20. Pipe a ¼” layer of custard into each tar shell and smooth
21. Pipe a ½“ layer of chocolate crème on the mousseline layer and smooth
22. Pipe concentric ⅛“ wide circles of orange cream and feather the orange cream with a toothpick
23. Bake tarts 14-16 minutes at 350°F. (Start checking at 10 minutes.)