I have been looking forward to this dessert for a long time. There is just something so elegantly French about a tart. Chic, understated and totally sophisticated. On the other hand, citrus in a dessert (especially lemon or orange) just screams Italy to me. For me, this is as good as it gets. The two places I love most in the world combined into one simple, elegant dessert.
This recipe is very simple but requires just a bit of advanced planning for chilling and cooling times. Other than that, it is a snap.
The crust is a lovely cookie dough type crust. In a food processor pulse turbinado sugar and butter until incorporated. Whisk together flour and salt and pulse into the sugar/butter mixture until crumbly. Whisk together eggs and cream and pulse into the dough until incorporated. Turn out the dough and knead until it forms a smooth mass. Wrap in plastic and chill. When ready, roll the dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch and line the tart pan.
I have just resigned myself to the fact that these types of doughs are going to crack when rolled and no matter what you do, there will be piecing and patching. Several years ago I was having dinner at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, CA. The wonderful thing about Chez Panisse is that they let you go into the kitchen and talk to the chefs. Well, I made a bee line for the pastry station. Once there I watched the pastry chef piecing dough into a tart shell. I struck up and conversation with him and told him I was surprised that he was doing all that piecing. He looked me straight in the eye and flat out said that there wasn’t any way to avoid it. It was the nature of these types of doughs to crack and break and there was nothing you could do to avoid it. At that moment I gave up even trying to roll this type of dough in one piece. I just roll it as best I can, fit it into the pan and then set to piecing and patching.
The filling is as simple as it can get. In a food processor combine lemon and orange zest and sugar and process until fine. Reduce orange and lemon juice to 6 tablespoons. In a mixer beat the sugar mixture and eggs until well combined. Beat in cream and the juice. Viola.
Scrape the cream into the pre-baked tart shell and bake for 30 minutes. Cool, chill and decorate.
Vicki said:
Wow, your caramelized powdered sugar looks fantastic! Chez Panisse is the most amazing restaurant. Was that David Lebovitz who you struck up a conversation with?!
jiminycub said:
Thank you Vicki. Unfortunately it wasn’t David. I would have been over the moon to talk to him personally
faithy said:
Wow!! How did you torch that powdered sugar so beautifully??
Nicola said:
That is so weird – I have never had to patch my pastry. Maybe the butter is different? I would really like to unpick that conundrum!
Kimberlie Robert said:
Hi Raymond, I couldn’t agree more with the things you said in your intro, and I so much appreciate your paragraph on Chez Panisse. This dough in particular is never cooperative, but to add more liquid would/could flatten the pastry. Anyway, nice post. Very personal.
orin said:
great post…your tart came so beautiful.
ButterYum said:
Thanks for sharing your CP story – so nice to know the pros deal with the same struggles we do. If you get a chance, I finally posted my tart and would love if you stopped by.
Patricia @ ButterYum
http://www.butteryum.org/roses-alpha-bakers/2015/6/3/tbb-french-orange-cream-tart