Blood Orange Tartlettes - #SundaySupper

Happy #SundaySupper everyone! Thanks to Isabel, Sundays on Twitter are being dedicated to spending Sunday dinner around the family table. Of course I don't have anybody to physically eat with me, but I know I can count on my Twitter friends to chat while I'm eating ;) Our theme for this week is a Springtime Menu. I've been eying up this Blood Orange Tart I saw on Crumb Blog, and to me springtime = citrus. Let's dig in!


My love for blood oranges started when I went to the Bahamas for spring break in college. We found blood orange trees on the small island of San Salvador (I tagged along with geology majors, so we stayed on one of the less populated islands for research). After spending all afternoon caving and walking through the woods (jungle?), we sat down and had them for a snack. They remind me of a cross between an orange and a grapefruit. A bitter orange, perhaps?

Blood oranges are my favorite because I can actually eat them. When I eat navel oranges (and recently kumquats), I feel really sick to my stomach after a few bites (like gagging sick, not allergy sick). Sometimes even the smell bothers me, but not with these babies. Blood oranges, I love you!

The tart has a butter crust with ground almonds and filled with a blood orange curd. It does take some time to make, but I promise they taste amazing (assuming you like blood oranges). You have to chill the dough, fit it into the pans then freeze again. Bake the crust; cool. Make the curd; cool. Fill the crust and bake. Let cool to room temperature. Chill in the fridge for a few hours. Phew! I stayed up past midnight writing this post so you can enjoy some Blood Orange Tartlettes for #SundaySupper.

The only modification I did to the recipe was cutting it in half. The recipe I'm posting will make two 4 inch tarts. Also, I don't own a food processor, so I made the dough using my hand mixer.

PS I'm in love with my new cake stand. Ribbon obsession, here I come!

Blood Orange Tartlettes Crust:

1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup finely ground almonds
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp blood orange zest
2 Tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tbsp ice water

Blood Orange Curd:

1 tsp blood orange zest
3 Tbsp blood orange juice
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces

For the crust: In a food processor (or mixing bowl), combine flour, almonds, sugar, salt, and orange zest. Pulse briefly to mix (or whisk together). Add butter and pulse several times until mixture resembles coarse meal (with mixer, beat until it looks like pebbles). With the machine running, add egg yolk, then water, stopping as soon as the dough starts to clump together (or beat with a mixer until a dough forms). Remove the dough and gently form it into two small flat disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

On a lightly floured surface (or still in the plastic wrap), roll out each disk into a 6 inch circle. Gently fit each dough into two 4-inch tart pans. If you have edges to hang over, fold them towards the inside of the pan and form a thicker crust. Freeze for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F. Place a piece of foil over each tart crust and fill with pie weights or dried beans (or rice or dried peas). Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and weights, and return to bake for another 5 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350F, and let the tart crust to cool on a wire rack while you begin on the curd.

For the curd: In a medium saucepan, whisk together the orange zest, both juices, sugar, egg and egg yolk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until it starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Place the tart pans on a baking sheet. Pour the curd into the shell, smoothing it out into an even layer. Bake for 25 minutes or until the filling is lightly puffed and set on the edges but still retains a slight wobble in the middle. Let cool to room temperature on a wire rack then chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving.

Makes two 4-inch tarts
Source: Crumb Blog.