Orange curd tart with chocolate pistachio orange crust. Topped with orange whipped cream and garnished with chopped pistachios, fresh orange zest, and grated chocolate.
The small, family owned “farmers market store” a few blocks from my condo remains open. I bought a week’s worth of vegetables and some nice oranges and pears. I decided to make an orange curd tart with 3 of the oranges and some orange marmalade. I keep making stuff. It keeps me sane.
We start today by making the tart crust. This is a simple sweet pastry dough prepared from all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, confectioners’ sugar, and egg yolk. To flavor our crust, we add in unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla bean paste, finely chopped pistachios and fresh orange zest.
The all-purpose flour and cocoa powder are measured and then sifted to aerate and ensure we don’t have any lumps of cocoa. The butter is creamed with the powdered sugar until creamy and smooth. The egg yolk and vanilla bean paste are mixed into the butter mixture. The sifted flour and cocoa are stirred into the wet ingredients until a dough forms. The finely chopped pistachios and fresh orange zest are added to the dough. The dough is mixed until the nuts and zest are incorporated throughout.
The tart crust is chilled. The chilled dough is rolled out, pressed into the sides and bottom of a tart pan with removable bottom and chilled again. The prepared shell, while cold is docked (poked with a fork), to put dozens of little holes in the bottom of the crust to keep the dough from expanding when the steam escapes from the crust during baking.
The docked tart shell is lined with parchment paper and filled with pie weights. The tart shell is baked for 15 minutes, removed from the oven. The parchment paper and pie weights are removed from the tart pan. The tart shell is returned to the oven for 5 more minutes to firm the crust.
The tart filling is orange curd topped with orange whipped cream.
The orange curd is prepared in a saucepan over medium low heat. The butter, fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh orange zest, sugar, and sea salt are added to a saucepan. The butter is melted over medium low heat until melted and stirred continuously to ensure the ingredients are well combined. A small part of the hot butter mixture is trickled into a bowl containing the eggs and egg yolks that have been whisked together. The egg mixture is added to the saucepan and heated for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the mixture begins to thicken. It is important to continuously stir the mixture with a wooden spoon or whisk, so that mixture does not burn or stick to the bottom of the saucepan.
The thickened mixture is strained through a mesh sieve to ensure a smooth, creamy filling. I usually strain the mix into a small bowl or pitcher, and then pour the curd into the prebaked tart crust.
The tart is baked in a preheated oven long enough to set the edges, while the center is still a bit wobbly when given a little shake. The tart is removed from the oven, cooled to room temperate and then chilled in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
The orange whipped cream is made by whipping heavy cream, fresh orange juice, and a little orange food coloring gel together until the cream is to stiff peak stage. The whipped cream is spread across the entire top of the tart with an offset spatula.
Individual platings of the tart are garnished with chopped pistachios, grated dark chocolate, and grated fresh orange zest.
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Orange Tart
Equipment
- 9-inch removable bottom tart pan
Ingredients
Chocolate Pistachio Orange Tart Dough
- 128 grams all-purpose flour (1 cup)
- 22 grams unsweetened cocoa powder (1/4 cup)
- 113 grams unsalted butter (8 tablespoons OR 1 stick), room temperature
- 62 grams confectioners’ sugar (1/2 cup)
- 20 grams egg yolk (1 large)
- 4 grams vanilla bean paste (1 teaspoon)
- 40 grams salted shelled pistachios (1/3 cup), finely ground
- 1 gram grated fresh orange zest (1/2 teaspoon)
Orange Curd Filling
- 113 grams unsalted butter (8 tablespoons OR 1 stick)
- 190 grams fresh squeezed orange juice (3/4 cup)
- 100 grams granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
- 12 grams grated fresh orange zest (2 tablespoons)
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 60 grams egg yolk (3 large)
- 150 grams egg (3 large)
Orange Whipped Cream
- 240 grams heavy whipping cream (1 cup)
- 30 grams fresh orange juice OR Grand Marnier (2 tablespoons)
- 1 drop orange food coloring gel
Garnish
- 12 grams roughly chopped pistachios (2 tablespoons)
- 2 grams grated fresh orange zest (1 teaspoon)
- 4 grams grated milk or dark chocolate (1 teaspoon)
Instructions
Chocolate Pistachio Orange Tart Dough
- Sift all-purpose flour and unsweetened cocoa powder into mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Add unsalted butter and confectioners’ sugar to stand mixer. Beat on low 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined, smooth and creamy.
- Add egg yok and vanilla bean paste. Beat on low for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl, if necessary.
- Add sifted flour and cocoa powder into butter mixture. Beat until the dough comes together, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Remove the dough from stand mixer bowl. Shape into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour.
- Remove dough from fridge and warm up for several minutes.
- Place dough on plastic or wax paper. Press the dough down with your hands first to expand the disc size and flatten. Using rolling pin, roll the dough into an 11-inch circle. Transfer dough to 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough into sides and bottom of tart pan. Chill for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Remove the tart from the fridge. Prick the bottom with a fork about a dozen times. Line the tart dough with parchment paper and fill with pie weights, dried beans or dried rice. Bake 15 minutes. Remove parchment and pie weights. Bake 5 additional minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
Orange Curd Filling
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add butter, fresh orange juice, sugar, fresh orange zest, and pinch of salt to small saucepan. Heat over low heat until the butter has melted. Stir to combine.
- Add egg yolks and eggs to small mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Trickle in about 1/4 cup of the melted butter mixture to the eggs while whisking.
- Transfer the egg mixture to the small saucepan. Stirring constantly, continue to heat the mixture over low heat until it begins to thicken, about 10 minutes.
- Place the tart pan on a baking sheet. Once the mixture begins to thicken, remove it from the heat. Pour the curd into the cooled tart shell. Place the baking sheet with filled tart shell in preheated oven. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the tart is set along the edges but not yet in the center.
- Remove the tart from the oven and cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Cool for several hours in the refrigerator.
Orange Whipped Cream
- Add heavy cream, fresh orange juice and food gel to stand mixer. Beat on medium low with whip attachment to stiff peaks. Dollop cream over cooled tart. Spread to edges with offset spatula.
Garnish
- Garnish individual servings with roughly chopped pistachios, fresh orange zest, and grated chocolate.
