Thursday, January 6, 2011

M: A Fancy Shmancy Citrus Tart

Oh you fancy huh? Yep, darn right. So, you might remember I mentioned an uber post-worthy citrus tart that I made up for the hubs and I for New Years Day dessert. Well, I figured I would let you in on this bad boy now.

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I stumbled across this recipe in January’s Southern Living. I seriously can’t describe how much the hubs loved this dessert and how great it turned out. It was such a nice change from the super indulgent desserts we’d been having over the holidays.

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This tart is assembled with a coconut crust (my favorite part!), a buttery orange curd, and assorted sliced citrus fruits on top. The combination is AH-mazing and really not nearly as hard as you might think. Honestly I could’ve stopped at the crust and just eaten that (LOL)

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Ok, here goes:

Elegant (aka fancy shmancy) Citrus Tart

from Southern Living

1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 tsp. coconut extract

Buttery Orange Curd (Recipe below)

Assorted citrus fruits (whichever ones your heart desires), peeled and sectioned

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake coconut in a single layer on a shallow pan 4-5 minutes, stirring halfway through. Cool completely.

2. Pulse coconut, flour, and powdered sugar in a food processor a few times until combined. Add butter and coconut extract, and pulse a few more times or until crumbly. With the processor running, gradually add 3 TB water, and process until the dough forms a ball. (I will be honest, I actually don’t have a big enough food processor that would do this job, so I just did it all with my bear hands and it worked out just fine!)

3. Roll dough into a 12 1/2 x 8 inch rectangle (or if you’re using a round tart pan like me, roll into a 10 inch circle) on a lightly floured surface. Press dough on bottom and up sides of your pan, trim excess dough, and discard.

4. Bake for 30 minutes. (FYI, before I baked mine, I poked some holes with a fork so the dough wouldn’t bubble up and crack). Cool completely on a wire rack.

5. Spread buttery orange curd over crust. Top with citrus sections (I used about 2 blood oranges, 2 navel oranges, and 1 big grapefruit)

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Buttery Orange Curd

2/3 cup sugar

2 1/2 TB cornstarch

1 1/3 cups orange juice

1 large egg, lightly beaten

3 TB butter

2 tsp. orange zest

pinch of salt

1. Combine sugar and cornstarch in a 3-quart saucepan. Gradually whisk in OJ. Whisk in egg. Bring to a boil; boil, whisking constantly 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter, zest, and salt. Place heavy duty plastic wrap directly on curd so a film doesn’t form. Chill approx. 8 hours.

OK, now you must go try this! Just remember, you gotta make that fantastic curd ahead of time! There’s actually an orange panna cotta recipe in this issue too that I’m dying to try that uses this orange curd. hmmm…maybe next?? =)

So, the hubs really enjoys fruit desserts (i.e. banana cream pie is his fave, or berries with ice cream, fruit pies, etc) over the more indulgent/sweeter, chocolatey/brown sugarey/carameley desserts and cakes…What do you prefer?

26 comments:

Jessica @ How Sweet said...

I've never made a citrus tart but I absolutely love citrus fruits. This sounds so good!

Stephanie @cookinfanatic said...

I love the intro to this post! The citrus tart looks beautiful. I wish I could eat citrus but I have a bad reaction to it unfortunately (oranges in particular) - boooo! :(

Bridget said...

This tart sounds delicious and looks amazing! A coconut crust sounds SO good!

Heather (Where's the Beach) said...

wow, that just screams summer to me (maybe even screams FL). Maybe I'm just ready for summer.... ;-)

Anonymous said...

Yum! I love the citrus-coconut combo! Thanks for the recipe!!!!

Anna @ Newlywed, Newly Veg said...

Oooh, I love recipes like this!! I'm going to remember this one!

vanillasugarblog said...

OK I am so trying that one! I love coconut in the crust. Not a big fan of lemon curd but I am a HUGE fan of orange.

Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean said...

it looks so pretty i just wouldn't want to eat it!

Renee Paj said...

wow! looks beautiful and sounds delish!

Faith said...

This is so pretty! Sounds really bright and refreshing too, with the flavor of citrus. That orange curd sounds amazing!

Anonymous said...

I've never made a citrus tart before, but yours looks delicious!

erica said...

I have never tried a citrus tart let alone made one. But since citrus is in season I am definitely giving this a try!

xo

The Blonde Duck said...

It sounds great!

The Blonde Duck said...

I love a good apple or berry pie, but I'm a sucker for super rich desserts. I've been addicted to pecan pie, hello dollies, oatmeal scotchies, pb pie...

Lisa @ Thrive Style said...

I used to love anything super sweet, but since I began eating more bitter foods, I can't take the super sweets...

I prefer desserts that are just fruity and light, maybe with some nuts or crumbly things :)

~Lisa

teresa said...

oh what a beautiful tart, i can see why you liked it so much!

i like fruit style desserts like this, but my husband is actually the one that wants his rich sweet chocolatey ones.

Biz said...

Maybe its because I am diabetic, but I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but given the chance - a great snickerdoodle cookie is amazing!

Great job on the tart! :D

Megan D said...

I have that issue of southern living sitting on my coffee table! Your tart turned out great!!

Heather @ Get Healthy with Heather said...

Now that looks pretty! I don't discriminate between rich and fruity desserts... Except lemon meringue and key lime pie, i've just never been a fan of those 2.

Rene said...

I really like lemon tarts - they are so light and delicious. But, I like mine really tart. David Lebovitz has an awesome french tart dough that doesn't have to be rolled that I use for every tart. You can add herbs to it to make it a more savory shell. I posted about it a little while ago on my blog :).

Katie said...

Gorgeous dessert!!! I used to be really anti-citrus when it came to desserts, but now I can't get enough. I would definitely buy this in stores!

We Are Not Martha said...

Yum, this sounds delicious! And totally "fancy shmancy" hehe. Citrus makes me happy!

Sues

MizFit said...

I love that your husband will EAT the fruit desserts.
mine?
reeces.
thats his idea of dessert.
two mini a night--needed or not :)

Kerr said...

I saw this in southern living and thought it looked delicious. so glad to hear it turned out well!

CaSaundraLeigh said...

Wow--the flavors in this sound outstanding. I will have to take your word for it and give it a shot!

Holly said...

holy yummola! this looks AMAZING! i love how the colors are so vibrant!!!