Have you tried blood oranges?  They’re amazing but only come out certain times of the year and in some countries.  So when you see some grab them while you can!  Grab loads.  Even if they’re imported they’ll be worth it.  It’s hard to describe this fruit.  They’re tangy and spicy.  It’s almost like someone mixed a little salt and tabasco sauce into your everyday orange.  And the colour is absolutely amazing.  Which is why this tart’s so easy.  All you need is a baked pastry case with homemade or shop-bought puff pastry.  Or shortcrust pastry.  It’s baked anew with a layer of 10-minute frangipane almond cream then topped with a thin layer of marmalade and stunning blood orange segments.  Tada!

My tart stayed in the oven a little too long.  Ahem.  Tarts in French pâtisseries and cookbooks are often on the browner side.  But mine was a little toooo dark and I’ve adjusted the baking times accordingly.  I’ve also promised myself not to sit on the sofa and get distracted next time!  🙂

The recipe

This recipe’s a variation of the multi-layered blood orange tart I made during last year’s blood orange season. 

I’d just discovered blood oranges for the first time while I was out one day.

It was a wonderful moment so couldn’t resist sharing the drawing with you again. 🙂  Anyway, this year’s tart is even quicker and simpler.

Puff pastry tart shell

I used my homemade inverted puff pastry but you can buy some ready-made good quality all-butter puff.  If you buy the cheap normal puff pastry it really isn’t very nice and almost a waste of blood oranges.  I tried it – look here’s the tart.  Imagine some rather dry tasteless pastry.  Oh dear.  I couldn’t even face giving it to friends to try.  I also learnt you need a lot of blood oranges to cover a large tart.  I didn’t have enough so took out my back-up fruit – strawberries!

Anyway, bake your (top quality) tart shell till it’s well done.  You can follow my instructions and adapt as you wish.

• For small (17cm/7in diametre):  200g all-butter pastry
• For large (31cm/12in diametre):  probably around 350g all-butter pastry (250-300g if it’s a ready-rolled circle of shop-bought pastry)

Shape your shell and let it rest in the fridge a minimum of 30-50 minutes (please see my shaping and baking a puff pastry tart shell recipe for more details).  During this time preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F (static, non-convection oven) or 180°C/350°F (fan-assisted).  Bake in the middle of the oven 20 to 25 minutes until it’s quite brown (be flexible – timings depend on your pastry and oven).  Let your tart shell cool about 10 minutes while you make the frangipane.  Lower your oven temperature to 180°C/350°F (static, non-convection oven) or 160°C/320°F (fan-assisted convection oven).

Frangipane

Double these quantities for the large tart

• 40g/3 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
• 15g/1 tablespoon maple syrup (or caster/superfine sugar)
• 40g beaten egg (two-thirds of a large egg)
• 27g/a quarter cup ground almonds
• 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier orange liqueur
• a quarter teaspoon orange blossom water, to taste

1. Whisk the softened butter and maple syrup together till creamy.
2. Gradually stir in the beaten egg.  Don’t beat too much air in.  If it starts separating put the bowl over heat and stir (bring everything to the same warmer temperature to makes the mixture smooth again). 
3. Then use the whisk to slowly stir in the rest of the ingredients.  Don’t overwork or beat air into the mixture as it makes it dry.  Just mix till combined.
4. Pour into your baked tart shell and put back into the oven to bake for about 10 minutes.  Or 15 minutes if you’d like it dark.  Keep an eye on it and don’t sit on the sofa like I did!  Ahem…
5. Let it cool completely.

Marmalade

• Spread a few tablespoons or more (to taste) of marmalade over the frangipane.to make a very thin layer of around 1mm, to taste.  It really makes the difference – I forgot this layer once and the tart wasn’t as exciting!

Blood orange segments

• 4-6 blood oranges/10-12 oranges for the bigger tart – but buy more just in case

Prepare some segments, making supremes by cutting the fleshy orange out of the white pith.  Drain and dry your supremes with a paper towel.  Drink the juice (yum).

Start from the middle and make an orange ‘flower’ on your tart.  It’s ready.  Yay!  🙂

Storing and eating your tart

This tart is best eaten on the same day but is also delicious the next day or day after.  So eat within 3 days, storing in the fridge in an airtight container.

So hope you’ll be inspired to go a-hunting down blood oranges or taking your pick of the thousands in your area!  And have a nice slice of this easy blood orange frangipane tart.

Farewell again sweet reader!  Hope you’re having a lovely week with all the celebratory treats for Chinese Lunar New Year, Pancake Tuesday and soon Valentine’s Day.  So much food and just one stomach.  Happy baking, cooking and eating! 🙂 x