Dorie Greenspan’s orange almond tart from her book Around My French Table is a classic French dessert of sweet cookie crust, frangipane (almond cream), and fruit. I have made variations of this dessert many times through the years using whatever fruit in season. Her rendition uses oranges as per Gerard Mulot’s patisserie in Paris. As tasty as the combination of buttery cookie, sweet almond cream, and baked fruit can be, I often yearn for fruit to play a bigger role in this dessert. That was what I set out to do.
Instead of navel oranges, I began with five blood oranges. They are at the height of season right now and I love their deep vibrant jewel-tone colour. Most blood oranges are smaller in size than navel oranges so it was a little fussier to supreme. Despite their wider availability, it is still marketed as a premium fruit with the price tag to match. I was determined to make the most of them. First, I grated the zest and rubbed into the sugar destined for the frangipane. It perfumed the almond cream nicely with its bright citrus flavour, a great match for the dark rum in the cream. The segmented oranges were left to dry in the fridge and I reserved whatever juice I could extract from oranges from the leftover. I opted to use a sweet tart dough that I happened to have in the freezer. The recipe comes from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme, a long-time favourite in my kitchen. This version of sweet tart dough contains ground almond and has been my go-to recipe since I first made it years ago. Once the blind baking was done, I brushed on a teaspoon of egg white to seal the crust.
To assemble the tart before baking, first I spread a thin layer of homemade blood orange marmalade on the partially baked crust. The chilled almond cream went in next before segments of blood orange were scattered on top. While the tart was baking, I set to work on my last component of the dessert to push the blood orange flavour over the top. I had more than a handful of fruit segments leftover and I wanted to fashion them into a compote to serve with the tart. One very easy option is to toss them with a bit of honey and orange flower water. However, I had my eyes on the Caramel Blood Oranges recipe from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course. The tart itself is pretty sweet so the slightly bitter undertone of caramel would be marvellous to add the complexity that I look for. I cooked a wet caramel using 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of water, and 1/2 tsp of corn syrup. Once it reached the desire amber colour, I took it off the heat and thin the caramel to sauce consistency with the addition of reserved blood orange juice + water to make 1/8 cup of liquid. When the sputtering subsided, I tossed in the blood orange segments and a pinch of salt. The mix of sweet, tart, and bitter is absolutely perfect.
To serve, I drizzled a bit of caramel sauce on the plate before setting a slice of tart on top. The caramel blood oranges were spooned alongside the tart but I would suggest that you let your guests help themselves. I certainly wanted more! The buttery crust is tender and crumbly. I love the marmalade surprise beneath the sweet smooth almond cream. The segments of blood oranges baked into the tart offered hits of juicy sweetness. And last but not least, caramel blood oranges that I couldn’t get enough of.
Don’t forget to check out the baking tips and tarts made by other members of French Fridays with Dorie!
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