Mini Blood Orange Tarts Food

BLOOD ORANGE TART

Steps:

• Lightly grease a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
• Combine flour, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add cold butter and pulse several more times until the mixture resembles coarse sand; mixture will be very crumbly. Pour mixture into the prepared tart pan. Use damp hands to press crumbs together evenly along the bottom and up the sides of the pan to form a crust. Use a fork to gently prick the bottom of the crust several times. Place crust in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Remove crust from freezer and place it on a cookie sheet. Line the crust with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until crust begins to turn golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove beans and aluminum foil. Return crust to the oven and bake until center of crust is set, 5 to 7 minutes more. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Meanwhile whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large heat-safe bowl. Mix in blood orange juice, eggs, egg yolk, and zest until smooth. Bring a pot of water to a low simmer. Place bowl with blood orange mixture over the pot of simmering water, making sure bowl does not touch water. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, ensuring each piece melts before adding the next. Pour custard mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the prepared crust.
• Bake in the preheated oven until custard is set, 15 to 20 minutes. Allow tart to cool to room temperature before removing from pan, about 30 minutes.
• Chill tart for about 3 hours. Top with blood orange slices before serving.

MINI BLOOD ORANGE TARTS

Steps:

• Zest 2 blood oranges and set aside. Juice enough blood oranges to make 3/4 cup juice. Strain juice and discard pulp and seeds. If there is not enough juice to make 3/4 cup after straining, supplement with lemon juice.
• Whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, and blood orange juice in a saucepan. Slowly warm mixture over low heat. Add butter and blood orange zest. Heat until curd has thickened, stirring constantly, for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Pour curd into a bowl and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Place plastic wrap directly onto the top of the curd and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) or temperature recommended on puff pastry package. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll out puff pastry following package directions into a rectangular shape on a lightly floured surface. Cut into smaller rectangles, about 3x5 inches each. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake pastry according to package instructions until puffed up and browned, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with warmed marmalade. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
• Top each puff pastry rectangle with a dollop of blood orange marmalade curd. If desired, top with blood orange slices.

BLOOD ORANGE TART

Steps:

• First, make the pastry. Put the flour, butter, icing sugar and 1/4 tsp salt in a food processor and pulse until you can't feel any lumps of butter. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, orange zest and 2 tsp cold water, and pulse again until the pastry starts to clump together in pieces. Tip onto your surface and gently bring together into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
• Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to line a 23cm round tart tin, about 3cm deep. Pinch any overhanging excess back down the outside of the tin (to trim after baking), prick the base with a fork and chill for another 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line the pastry with a big sheet of scrunched up baking parchment, then fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for 15 mins, then remove the paper and beans, and bake for another 5-15 mins until golden brown and crisp. Let the pastry cool for 5 mins, then carefully trim the excess pastry with a small, sharp knife. Beat the egg white with a fork, then brush all over the inside and cut edge of the pastry and bake for a further 2 mins - this helps keep the pastry crisp when the wet filling is added.
• Remove the pastry case from the oven and lower the heat to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. For the filling, whisk together the whole eggs and yolks, then sieve into a larger mixing bowl. Whisk in the caster sugar, crème fraîche, orange zest and juice, and lemon juice. Lift the pastry case back into the oven and place on the middle shelf. Using a jug, pour the filling into the tart. Bake for 35 mins until there is just a slight wobble in the centre when you tap the tin. Cool to room temperature, then chill for 1 hr. LIghtly dust with icing sugar, then serve.