French Orange Tart Recipes

Steps:

• Make the pastry: whisk together the flour and salt in a big bowl; with a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles small crumbs.
• Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition, until the dough just comes together if a small bit is pressed between your fingers; do not overmix.
• Shape the dough into a disk; wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or for up to 2 days (if it has been chilled overnight or longer, let the dough stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before rolling it out).
• On a lightly floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll the pastry into a 14-inch round.
• Fold the pastry in half and transfer it to an 11-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.
• Unfold the pastry and gently press it into the bottom and up the sides of the pan with your fingertips.
• Trim the overhanging pastry to 1 inch.
• Fold the overhang in and then press the dough against the sides of the pan so it extends about 1/4 inch above the rim; refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425°.
• Press a piece of heavy-duty foil snugly into the bottom and up the sides of the pastry shell and fill with uncooked rice or dried beans; bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove the foil and rice, and bake for 8-10 minutes longer, until golden (if the shell puffs up during baking, gently press it down with the back of a spoon); let cool on a wire rack; decrease oven temperature to 350°.
• Make the filling: whisk together the eggs, sugar, orange zest, lemon zest, orange juice, lemon juice, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined; whisk in the creme fraiche.
• Carefully pour the filing into the cooled tart shell; place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until the edges are set but the center is still slightly jiggly; cool completely on a wire rack.
• To serve, remove the side of the pan and cut into wedges; you may dust the tart with powdered sugar and serve with fragrant ripe strawberries.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in bottom third of oven. Preferably using an electric knife, cut the oranges crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices, discarding any seeds. In a medium saucepan, combine orange slices, water, and sugar over medium heat. Cook until orange slices are tender and translucent, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.
• Line a baking sheet with a cooling rack. Remove the orange slices from the cooking liquid and place on rack to drain. Return the reserved cooking liquid to the stove and cook over medium-high heat until reduced and slightly thickened, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Roll out puff pastry to form an 11-by-14-inch rectangle. Lightly sprinkle a baking sheet with water. Transfer pastry to baking sheet. Trim edges to form a 10-by-13-inch rectangle. Using a paring knife, lightly score the pastry one-inch from the edge, being careful not to cut all the way through. Spread frangipane evenly over pastry, within the border.
• Top frangipane evenly with drained orange slices. Transfer tart to oven and bake for 45 minutes, rotating baking sheet every 15 minutes for even cooking.
• Immediately slide the tart off the baking sheet onto a cooling rack. Lightly brush orange slices with a little of the reduced cooking liquid; discard remaining liquid. Cool tart to room temperature before serving. Serve with creme fraiche, if desired.

Steps:

• For the pastry, rub the butter into the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl until crumbly. Mix in the egg until it forms a dough, then form into a puck shape. Cover and chill for at least 30 mins. Will keep chilled for two days.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to roughly the thickness of a £1 coin, and use to line a 23cm fluted tart tin, leaving some overhanging. Line with a disc of baking parchment big enough to cover the edges, and fill with some baking beans to weigh it down (use dried rice or lentils if you don't have baking beans). Bake for 15 mins, then remove the parchment and beans and bake for 10-15 mins more until the pastry is biscuity. Trim away any overhanging pastry with a serrated knife. Set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, set aside four of the apples, then peel, core and roughly chop the rest. Put them in a shallow saucepan with 2 tbsp water, all but 1 tbsp of the sugar and the alcohol, if using. Cover and cook over a low heat for 25-30 mins, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed, until the apples have collapsed into a purée. Taste the mixture and sweeten with more sugar, if needed.
• Turn the oven up to 210C/190C fan/gas 8. Peel, core and halve the reserved apples, then cut into even-sized slices. Spread the apple purée over the base of the tart case, then arrange the apple slices in neat, concentric circles, starting from the outside. Brush the apples with butter, then scatter over the reserved sugar and bake for another 20-25 mins until golden.
• Mix the jam with 1 tbsp hot water from a freshly boiled kettle. When the tart has finished baking, glaze generously with the jam, then leave to cool a little. Serve warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar, if you like.