One of my neighbors gave me some of their mandarin oranges and to thank them I “processed” the fruit and re-gifted it to them. I love the orange/chocolate tarts I made a few times, but have yet to perfect them. I changed the recipe and method this time, remembering Einstein’s quote: (reported and most likely never said,) “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results“ 

I used a recipe and method (by Philippine pastry chef, Hanbit Cho. My first attempt used standard tart rings resulted in useable but not “excellent” tart shells. The edges are ragged and some of them broke.

(I ordered and received some perforated tart rings and am waiting for the accompanying perforated baking mat to arrive, then will try again. If at first…)

I also changed my previous recipe to use creme patisserie and chocolate ganache which don’t require baking. I used my standard creampat recipe (ala Martha Stewart) and a chocolate ganache and orange glaze from Preppy Kitchen.

Chocolate Orange Tart with Crème Patisserie – REVISED

Yield: Five 4” tarts.
INGREDIENTS
Tart Shell
• 100g unsalted room temperature butter
• Salt a pinch
• 72g powdered sugar
• 20g almond flour
• 30g corn starch
• 36g (~1) room temperature egg
• 170g cake flour
Chocolate Ganache
• ½ cup heavy cream (120ml)
• 180g (1 c) semi-sweet chocolate chopped
Orange Glaze
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 Tbl orange juice
• 1 tsp orange zest
Crème Patisserie
• 1¾ cups 2% milk + ¼ cup heavy cream
• 80g (~4) egg yolks
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ c corn starch
• Pinch salt
• 2 Tbl butter
• 1 tsp vanilla ½ tsp vanilla

METHOD
Tart Shell

1. Beat the butter lightly (add in salt).
2. Sift in powdered sugar, almond flour and corn starch. Beat lightly.
3. Add the eggs gradually and mix.
4. Finally, add in the cake flour and mix well.
5. Roll it out to 2mm/3mm thickness between parchment papers. (2mm thickness for 3-4” diameter, 3mm thickness for 7-9” diameter.
6. Rest in the fridge for 1~2hrs.
7. For regular tart pan: Cut chilled dough into disc ~2” larger diameter than tart ring
8. For perforated tart ring: Cut discs the size of the tart ring
9. For regular tart pan: Butter inside of ring and gently fit the dough inside the ring, leaving enough to line the edges. Be gentle to not tear the dough. Prick the bottom. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the dough and and fill with pie weights.
10. For perforated tart ring: Butter inside of ring and set over one of the cut-to-size discs. Cut strips of dough 1” wide and cut ~15” long. Line the ring with the long strips cementing and connections by warming gently with a finger. Place it on a perforated mat.
11. For either type of tart ring chill the formed rings in the fridge for an hour before baking, then put them directly in the pre-heated oven.
12. For regular tart pan: Bake at 350F for 10mins, take the pie weights out, then bake for another 5 mins. (325Ffor 2mm thick)
13. For perforated tart ring: Bake at 350 F for 15mins. (325 Ffor 2mm thick)

Chocolate Ganache

1. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until very steamy and just
   about to boil. (You can also heat it in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes until very hot but not boiling.)
2. Meanwhile, place the chocolate in a large measuring cup.
3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and set aside for 5 minutes, allowing the
   chocolate to melt from the heat of the cream.
4. Stir the chocolate and cream together until fully combined, smooth, and glossy. If
   there are a few pieces of chocolate left unmelted, you can microwave the ganache
   at 50% power for about 10 seconds and mix again.

Orange Glaze

1. Place confectioners’ sugar into a bowl. Add 2 tablespoon orange juice and 1 teaspoon orange zest.
2. Whisk or beat until smooth, adding more juice as necessary. Reserve remaining zest and juice for another use. The glaze should be pipeable but should not flow from the piping tip.
   Crème Patisserie
3. Whisk eggs and milk together and add to all other ingredients (except vanilla) to a medium saucepan. Bring to boil whisking constantly. Cook until thickened (it will look lumpy, its ok)
4. Sieve lumpy mixture into a bowl and add vanilla, mix thoroughly
5. When incorporated, cover with plastic directly on the crème patisserie and cool about an hour. (Alternatively, slide the piping tip you would use to fill the pâte à choux into the piping bag but don’t cut off the tip. Spoon the hot batter directly into the piping bag with sealed end. When the crème patisserie is cool, cut the tip off, force the bag around the piping tip and squeeze the crème pat to fill the end )

ASSEMBLY

1. Pipe a ¼” layer of crème patisserie layer into each tart shell and smooth while the crème patisserie is still warm. Let set before proceeding.
2. Pipe a ¼” layer of warm chocolate ganache on the crème patisserie layer
3. Pipe a spiral ⅛” wide circles of orange cream and feather the orange cream with a toothpick
4. Chill to set

Candied Orange Slices

1. Add the sugar and water to a 12-inch skillet or a large saucepan and set it over medium-high heat. Bring the water to a boil, stirring from time to time. As the water heats, the sugar will melt into the water. It’s important that the sugar be completely melted before adding the orange slices.
2. After boiling the water, reduce the heat to medium and add the orange slices. Don’t overcrowd the pan; the orange slices should fit in the pan with little overlap.
3. Let the orange slices cook at a gentle simmer for about ~60 minutes, until the white part of the peel (the pith) is nearly translucent. Use tongs to turn them over in the syrup every now and then.
4. Use tongs to remove the slices from the sugar syrup, laying them out in one layer on a wire rack.
5. Spread the slices on a parchment paper lined baking pan and bake for 1-2 hours at 170F
6. When “dry” they will be tacky but also feel set – kind of like gummy candy. Coat with caster sugar if desired.

I made some chocolate-orange-custard tarts last week. Honestly, they tasted pretty good, but if I saw them in a patisserie I would give them a pass.

I remade them today but without the baked custard, chocolate and orange bases. (Truthfully, maybe a little over baked in my case.) Version 2.0 used a new method to make the tart case, and creme patisserie, chocolate ganache and a new orange drizzle.

The tart base was made using a food processor to mix the butter, sugar, salt and 1/4th of the flour. It’s basically the same method I use to make berry drop scones. Using the food processor is easier and quicker than cutting the butter into the sugar with your hands.

I use the “Martha Stewart” creme patisserie method and a standard eclair ganache recipe and method. The orange drizzle is simple the zest of one orange, 70 grams of confectioners sugar and enough fresh orange juice to make a pipeable paste.

There are a lot of steps in this recipe (none of them very difficult,) but believe me, it is well worth the effort.

CremePat – Chocolate – Orange Tart

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 reserved for an egg wash
• 200 g all-purpose flour
Chocolate Ganache
• 150 g dark chocolate finely chopped
• 150 g heavy cream
• 2 Tbl corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
Orange Crème
• 1 orange, juiced and zested
• 35g confectioners sugar
Crème Patisserie
• 1 c (175 ml) whole/full fat milk (¾ c 2% plus ¼ c heavy cream)
• 2 (40g) large egg yolks
• ¼ c (13 grams) granulated/caster sugar
• ⅛ c corn starch
• 1 Tbl butter
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

METHOD
Tart Shell

1. In a food processor pulse sugar, salt and 50g AP flour
2. Pulse in cubed butter and vanilla
3. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add egg and mix until incorporated
4. Stir in flour. Mix by hand like you are kneading bread until incorporated
5. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
6. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
7. Butter or spray 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. Prick holes in bottom and sides of formed dough
11. 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 pie weights.)
12. Paint edges of the tartlet with the egg wash.
13. Bake in preheated oven 350° F (175 C) for 12 min
14. Remove from oven, remove weights, then roll top to cut off excess
15. Return to oven and bake 8 more minutes to dry the bottoms
16. Immediately remove from pans and cool on a wire
    
    Chocolate Ganache
17. Heat the cream to just below boiling.
18. Place the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl
19. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let it sit for a couple of minutes
20. Add the corn syrup and vanilla and mix until smooth
21. Pour the chocolate into a sealed piping bag. (No piping tip required.)
22. Let the mixture cool to the desired viscosity.
    
    Orange Crème
23. Place the confectioners’ sugar and zest in a small bowl. Add the orange juice one drop at a time while stirring, until the desired viscosity is attained.
24. Pour into a piping bag with a small circular piping tip inserted. (Do not cut the end off yet.)
    
    Crème Patisserie
25. Whisk eggs and milk together then add to all other ingredients (except vanilla) to a medium saucepan.
26. Bring to boil, whisking constantly
27. Cook until it begins to thicken (it will look lumpy, its ok)
28. Sieve lumpy mixture into a bowl and add vanilla, mix thoroughly
29. Transfer to a sealed piping bag to cool. (No piping tip required.)
    
    ASSEMBLY
30. Pipe a ¼” layer of CremePat into each tart shell and smooth
31. Pipe a ⅛” layer of chocolate crème on the CremePat layer and smooth
32. Pipe concentric ⅛“wide circles of orange cream and feather the orange cream with a toothpick
33. Add a sprig of candied orange peel for garnish.