A Tart Little Tart

What a beautiful thing a blood orange is.  Deep garnet in color and exquisitely tart in flavor, these gems can brighten anybody's rainy February day.  As a fanatic for fruit, I'm especially taken with them during these lean months.  The colder it is outside, the more my body craves a good jolt of citrus.

A few weeks ago my friend at http://butterdate.blogspot.com/ cooked us a wonderful multi-dish meal that ended perfectly with an orange tart.  Delighted,  I devoured quite a few pieces, and then a few more the next morning.  Gorgeous splashes of citrus are nestled in an indulgent almond cream (one really cannot go wrong when almond cream is involved) and baked atop a flaky, buttery crust.  Pure winter tart heaven.  And quite handsome to boot.

My only mistake was not immediately begging her for the recipe, which is from the beautiful Big Sur Bakery cookbook.  Instead, when the craving hit,  I scanned multiple versions online and finally made sense of the full recipe by taking bits and pieces from each.  Every step was attempted with a little trepidation - I only had so many oranges and going to the store in the rain was not an option - but in about two hours flat I had a dazzling blood orange tart that was deemed wonderful upon the first bite.  Nothing like a tart little tart to perk up your Tuesday.

BLOOD ORANGE TART 

Adapted loosely from Big Sur Bakery

Serves 4 - 8

For Almond Cream: 
1/3 cup almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
3 tbsp salted butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp + 1 tsp all-purpose flour

For Tart Dough: 
3/4 cups (12 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes  
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
grated zest of one orange 
5 - 6 tbsp orange juice

For Assembling the Tart: 
1/3 cup orange marmalade (or any marmalade you fancy)
3 - 4 mixed oranges, or more if needed
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp cold unsalted butter

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Spread almonds on a baking tray and toast until fragrant and just browning, about 7-8 minutes.  Be careful not to burn them.  When they are cool, chop them coarsely.

Prepare your tart dough: in a medium sized bowl, combine butter, flour, sugar, salt, and zest.  Using your fingers, cut the butter and combine it with the dry ingredients until the butter is crumbly and the size of small peas.  Add the orange juice a few tablespoons at a time, mixing as you go until the dough is forming a ball and staying together.  It should be just a little sticky.  Turn out onto a well-floured surface and kneed until a smooth ball forms, about a minute.  Cover it with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or until very cold. 

Make the almond cream: combine softened butter, powdered sugar, almond extract and salt using an electric hand mixer until well blended and fluffy.  Slowly, add the egg yolk and then the flour.  Mix until well combined.  Fold in the chopped almonds.  It should be almost the consistency of peanut butter.   Keep at room temperature. 

Set your oven temperature to 375 F. 

On well-floured parchment paper, roll out the tart dough.  Don't worry about it looking rustic and misshapen, that's half the fun!  Transfer to baking tray.  Using a spoon, top with the marmalade, leaving a one inch border around the edge.  Cover the jam with a layer of almond cream.  Fold in the edges creating a crust to prevent the jam from oozing out.  Put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. 

Prepare the citrus: using a paring knife, cut off each end of the orange.  Following the curve of the fruit, cut off the pith and peel.  Slice the oranges into thin rounds, removing seeds as you go.  

Assemble the tart: remove it from the refrigerator.  Top with citrus rounds.  Brush crust with beaten egg and sprinkle the whole thing with sugar.  Dot the oranges with butter to avoid burning.  

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, or until the crust and almond cream are a toasty golden brown.  Cool before serving.  Fabulous for breakfast the next day. 

And every good morsel deserves a delicious sip of something, don't you think?  In this case, I went with color - because why not - and popped some Loire Valley pink bubbly.  I was feeling all sorts of celebratory and knew that a little sparkling rose would do the trick.  This particular bottle is one of my favorites.   From biodynamic Clos de la Briderie, the Purete de Silex Brut Rose is made from Pineau d'Aunis, Pinot Noir, Grolleau Gris, and Groslot Noir - major players in the Loire Valley.  It is smashingly bright pink, the color of the day!  Ripe strawberry, zest, hints of cranberry, a subtle toastiness.  Best sipped while dreaming of spring's promise of sunshine or relishing in winter's citrus bounty.  And for under $20, this bottle is a complete steal.  All smiles.