Tart!

I tried a new citrus tart yesterday!



A weekday off is always a perfect opportunity to make a pie. I had been eyeing the grapefruits at Kyouei for a week and finally decided to go for it. I'm not completely satisfied with the recipe at this point. Though Akira finished half of the tart last night, so at least it wasn't a complete flop. I prefer white grapefruits in general, but the few grapefruit tart recipes I could find called for pink. Pink grapefruits have a much more delicate flavor, and need a little kick from orange and ginger to cut the bitterness and enhance the flavor. I added about 1 1/2 tsp of the juice from grated young ginger and that was way too much. Even with over a cup of other liquid, when cooked, the grapefruit was hard to taste under all that ginger. Next time I'll reduce it to a 1/2 tsp.

I'd also like to see what happens with white grapefruit. I think I'd stay away from the ginger pairing there. Maybe coriander? I'll let you know.

Here's the recipe as I made it. You'll probably want to reduce the amount of ginger.

Pink Grapefruit Tart
adapted from Anne Willan's Look & Cook: Perfect Pies & Tarts

Pâte Sucre dough
1 1/2 c flour
1/3 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla, or any dark spirit on hand (I used Tiffin this time)
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 egg yolks
pinch salt

Tart filling
3/4 c sugar
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
zest from 1 pink grapefruit & 1 orange
1 c pink grapefruit juice
juice from half a large orange
1 1/2 tsp juice from grated ginger

For the grapefruit filling:
Combine sugar and eggs in a bowl. Add juices and zest to the bowl. Whisk until the eggs are well mixed and there are no gloopy whites. Set aside.

For the tart shell:
Sift flour into a large bowl leaving a well in the center. Add butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, and yolks to the well. Combine ingredients in the well with your fingertips. Draw flour into the butter and sugar mixture and combine until a course meal forms. Knead meal until it sticks together, then becomes smooth and pulls away from the bowl easily. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. If it's dry, just keep kneading. It takes a few minutes, but the crust will be too sticky if you add water. Don't do it! Work dough into a ball and flatten into a disc. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or foil, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough to fit your 10 inch tart plate. Fold dough and transfer gently to the plate. Prick the bottom of the shell with a fork so that it won't bubble while baking. Line the inside of the dough with foil and fill with rice or beans to weight the dough. Chill dough in the tart pan for another 15 minutes.

Heat oven to 400F. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then remove the pie weights and bake for another 5-7 minutes until dough is golden. Remove from oven.

Turn oven down to 375F.

Finish the tart:
Add filling to your pre-baked pie shell and bake at 375F for 25-35 minutes, until the filling is firm and cracks a bit near the crust.

This is my first attempt at sharing a recipe. Please tell me if my directions are incomprehensible.