Category Archives: Orange Tart

Don’t Look a Gift Horse…

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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.

Before Baking
After Baking

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.)

Orange Tart

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Oh, there is so much I could say about an orange tart, but this is neither the time nor the place.

I saw this recipe and decided to give it a try. I changed out the orange custard for another recipe I had, and used my standard tart shell recipe. Actually, all I kept was the orange filling. It intrigued me because it seemed like it would produce an orange jelly without any gelatin (which I never use) or agar-agar (which is my go to “gelling” agent.)

Once one of the small tartlets was submitted to QC we both thought it needed something else. I made a quick batch of basic meringue and piped stars around the perimeter of the large tart. I should have taken the time to make Italian meringue. It would have been firmer and kept its shape longer.

Orange Cream Tart

INGREDIENTS

CUSTARD FILLING
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 4 egg yolks (Save the whites for meringue)
• 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

ORANGE FILLING
• 1 cup (250ml) orange juice, strained
• 1 cup (220g) caster sugar
• ⅓ cup (50g) corn starch
• 2 Tbl (30g) unsalted butter

SHORTCRUST PASTRY
• 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes
• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 60 g icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 eggs – 1 for the dough and the other reserved for an egg wash

METHOD
For the pastry shell:

  1. Mix butter with sugar
  2. Add salt then vanilla
  3. Add egg
  4. Stir in flour. Mix by hand until incorporated
  5. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
  6. Butter tartlet pan, or use non-stick pan
  7. Roll dough to about ⅛” thick
  8. Lay over tart mold and press into all crevices
  9. Roll top to cut off excess
  10. Prick holes in bottom and sides of formed dough
  11. Fill tart with pastry weights (I put beans in crumpled, then flattened parchment paper and remove 5 minutes before the end of the bake.)
  12. Paint edges of the tartlet with the egg wash.
  13. Bake in preheated oven 350 deg F (175 C) for 15 min
  14. Immediately remove from pan and cool on a wire rack

    For the custard filling:
  15. Heat milk in medium saucepan until hot but not boiling.
  16. While milk is heating, add sugar and cornstarch to mixing bowl. Whisk together.
  17. With an electric mixer or by hand, whisk egg yolks into sugar mixture until pale yellow.
  18. Whisk in orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla.
  19. Remove milk from heat.
  20. While whisking/mixing on low, very slowly pour heated milk into egg mixture. Mix slowly until combined.
  21. Pour mixture back into saucepan and place over medium heat.
  22. Heat and whisk continuously for 5 minutes, until custard has thickened to consistency of thick
    pudding.
  23. Once thick, remove from heat and whisk in butter.
  24. Pour custard into large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap onto top of custard to prevent skin from forming.

    For the orange filling:
  25. Place 1 cup (250ml) water, orange juice and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to just below the boil.
  26. Whisk cornflour and ¼ cup (60ml) water in a bowl and add to orange juice mixture. Cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes or until thickened.
  27. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes, then add butter, whisking to combine. Slowly pour into tart, over cold and set custard filling.
  28. Chill for 1 hour or until firm.
  29. Cut into wedges to serve.

Meringue – Basic

INGREDIENTS
• 3 egg whites (90g), at room temperature
• ¼ tsp ( 1.25 mL )cream of tartar
• ¼ cup ( 60 mL )granulated sugar
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METHOD

  1. Beat egg whites in medium bowl with electric mixer until frothy.
  2. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.
  3. Gradually beat in sugar, 1 tbsp (15 mL) at a time, until sugar is dissolved and stiff, glossy peaks form.