recipe: winter citrus tart
consider that seasonal depression healed
Let’s be real, winter sucks. But living in a place with seasons, in a place where you can’t take good produce for granted, makes one more conscious of seasons and the fruits they bear, literally.
And so winter is celebrated for one reason and one reason only. Citrus. In all its bright, refreshing, zesty wonder. And this tart is a celebration of all of that. My favorite fruit group (ok, maybe a close second after berries, but citrus is more consistently delicious on this coast).
This winter citrus and tea tart was a project, but one that is welcome on a grey winter day. Many steps, but it uses all of the parts of the citrus so it’s well worth it.
ingredients
- Pâte sucrée (I used the Republique recipe, but added some crushed black tea to it, mortar and pestle til fine, and zest of the citruses), use a recipe for a 9 in tart pan
- 3 of your favorite citruses (I used 1 pomelo, 1 cara cara orange and 1 blood orange)
- Citrus tea pastry cream
- 1 cup whole milk, infused with black tea and orange peel while heating
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 1.5 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp butter (use good butter, you can taste it)
- Marmalade with peel + orange blossom syrup (put this on the bottom and then bake the pastry more)
- citrus peel, cut into thin slices
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp orange blossom water and/or 1 tbsp of dried orange blossom
- juice and zest of 1 lemon
steps
- Make your favorite pâte sucrée, shape into a disk, wrap and refrigerate until ready.
- Prepare the citrus of your choice, peeling carefully, removing the pith and either slicing or preserving the sections as much as possible, depending on how you want to decorate. Save the peel.
- Make the custard. Heat the milk with tea and orange peel until just a simmer, add vanilla paste. Whisk the egg yolks with sugar, cornstarch in a separate bowl
- Temper the egg yolks with the milk and then add back into the pot over low stirring until thickened. Once combined, add butter 1 tbsp at a time until smooth.
- Press through a mesh filter into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap (pressing to the surface) and refrigerate.
- Make the marmalade. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cut the citrus peel into thin slices. Add the chopped citrus peel to the pot and boil for a few minutes, and then drain. Repeat 2 more times.
- Boil 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of water and orange blossom water (if using dried flowers, crush it using mortar pestle)
- Add the drained citrus peel into the sugar syrup and bring to a boil. Add the juice and zest of 1 lemon.
- Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to combine more thoroughly. Then, bring it back to the stove and cook down until thick and slightly darker in color.
- While that is cooking down, take out the pâte sucrée. Divide the dough into two parts, one with 2/3 of the dough and the other with 1/3.
- Roll the larger piece to about 1/2 cm, and press into the bottom of a 9 in tart pan. Roll the rest of the dough into a long piece and use it to press into the sides of the tart pan. Use a fork to poke some holes, and then place in the freezer while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Press some aluminum foil down on top of the tart shell and bake for 15 min. Then remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Add in a thin layer of marmalade to the tart shell. Bake for another 12-15 minutes until golden.
- Remove and let cool completely.
- Once cooled, add in a layer of custard, refrigerate to set, and then decorate with the citrus sections. Garnish with mint, flowers, really anything to add a bit more brightness.
- Make a pot of coffee or tea and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
