Blood Orange + Berry Tart
Don’t you love a great citrus season? I’d been wanting to make a bright and wonderful tart, but didn’t have enough berries since it’s a bit too early. Welcome – citrus season! The color of this tart comes out so beautifully, you barely need anything to decorate it at all. I decided to add some candied oranges to enhance it a bit. I also usually love making a shortcrust for tarts, but I wasn’t in the mood to do too much baking in the oven – so I went with a cookie crust. This would be a great dessert to make for Valentine’s or Galentine’s Day! It does take some time – so plan ahead!
What you’ll need…
For the crust:
graham crackers
brown sugar
butter
For the orange curd:
blood + navel oranges
raspberries
strawberries
granulates sugar
cornstarch
egg yolks
unsalted butter
For the candied orange slices:
blood + navel oranges
water
sugar
corn syrup
To make the tart…
Chop up the crackers in your food processor until they are fine crumbs, and then pulse in the sugar. In a large bowl you’ll combine this with the melted butter and use your clean hands to press the crust into a pre-buttered rectangular tart pan with removable bottom. Freeze the crust while you prepare the curd.
As a note – I actually didn’t have enough graham crackers to fill up 1.5 cups, so I used half graham crackers and half Speculoos (cookie butter) cookies from Trader Joes. Note that the speculoos cookies will make your crust a bit sweeter. I found this to be a nice balance to the citrus flavor of the curd.
Now you’ll prepare the fruits by washing all of them, and then placing the berries in the food processor and pureeing them. Strain this mixture into a strainer placed above a saucepan. Push down on the strainer with a spoon to make sure you get all the juices. This may take some time – but it is worth it! Next squeeze the juice from all the oranges through the strainer as well. Add the rest of the curd ingredients (minus the butter) into the saucepan. On medium heat, whisk until the mixture is thickened. Turn the stove off and add butter 1 cube at a time. Continue mixing in each cube until it is fully melted before you add the next cube. Let cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator 1-2 hours.
After refrigeration, remove the curd form the refrigerator and spread evenly into the tart. Bake at 350ºF for 20-25 mins. It will still be somewhat jiggly in the middle when you remove it from the oven. That’s ok! Refrigerate 24 hours and it will solidify.
To make the candied oranges, wash, clean, and slice oranges thinly. You’ll have to split the oranges and the rest of the ingredients for the candied oranges into two deep skillets, as you want to make sure that the slices do not overlap. Bring the water/sugar/corn syrup mixture to a boil and then lower the temperature to a simmer. Add the orange slices to the skillets, not overlapping. Simmer 1.5-2 hours. Remove slices from skillet onto a cooling rack and allow them to dry at least 24 hours. You can make these ahead of time and let them dry longer so they will be less sticky, if you’d like. Top your tart with the candied slices, and enjoy the extras as a snack/dessert on its own!
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Ingredients
Crust
- 1½ cup graham crackers
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ⅔ cup butter melted
Orange + Berry Curd
- 2 blood oranges
- 2 navel oranges
- 6 oz raspberries this is one small box
- 6 large strawberries
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 egg yolks
- ½ cup butter cut into cubes
Candied Oranges (for topping - optional)
- 1 large blood orange
- 1 large navel orange
- 3 cup water
- 1¼ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp corn syrup
Instructions
Crust
- Chop crackers in food processor until smooth crumbs. Add in the brown sugar and pulse until combined. Pour the crumbs into a large bowl. Melt the butter in the microwave. Add the butter to the crumbs and mix until combined well.
- Use clean hands to press the crust into a pre-buttered long rectangular tart pan. Place this in the freezer while you make the curd.
Orange + Berry Curd
- Wash all the fruits, and then place the berries in the food processor and puree. Strain this mixture into a strainer placed above a saucepan. Push down on the strainer with a spoon to make sure you get all the juices. This may take some time. Next squeeze the juice from all the oranges through the strainer as well.
- Add the sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks into the saucepan. On medium heat, whisk until thickened. Turn the stove off and add butter 1 cube at a time. Continue mixing until melted. Let cool to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator 1-2 hours.
- When ready, remove curd form the refrigerator and spread evenly into the tart. Bake at 350ºF for 20-25 mins. It will still be somewhat jiggly in the middle. Refrigerate 24 hours.
Candied Oranges
- Wash, clean, and slice oranges thinly. Split the water, sugar, and corn syrup between two deep skillets, and bring to a boil. Now lower the temperature to a simmer. Add the orange slices to the skillets, not overlapping. Simmer 1.5-2 hours.
- Remove slices from skillet onto a cooling rack and allow them to dry 1-2 days. Top your tart with the candied slices.
Notes
- This is a make ahead dessert, as you need at least 24 hours to chill the tart in the refrigerator after it is baked, and (at the same time) 24 hours to dry the candied orange slices before decorating the tart. Please plan accordingly.
- If you don't have graham crackers, it's ok to use other cookies. I've used Speculoos (cookie butter cookies) mixed with some graham crackers, and it was great!
- If you have extra candied slices, you can enjoy them as a snack/dessert on their own.