24 January, 2008

January recipe: Seville orange tart


It’s the third week in January, and the Seville oranges are back in the shops again, all the more delightful for being available only three weeks of the year. Last year I posted on Seville orange marmalade and some of the stories associated with it.

But marmalade isn’t the only use for Seville oranges. Their wonderfully sharp and aromatic flavour makes them ideal for puddings as well. Here’s one:

Seville orange tart

For the pastry:
8 oz (approx 250 g) plain flour
3 oz (approx 100 g) icing sugar
4 oz (approx 125 g) butter
1 egg
Or you can use ready-made pastry if you prefer

For the filling:
2 oz (approx 50 g) butter
5 oz (approx 140 g) caster sugar
2 eggs
2 Seville oranges

To make the pastry:
Cream the butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy.
Beat in the egg.
Beat in the flour to form a dough.
This quantity of pastry is enough for three 7-inch tart cases, so divide the dough into three and freeze what you don’t need immediately. (It’s the same pastry that I use for strawberry cheesecake).
Wrap one portion in cling film or foil and refrigerate for about an hour.
Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface, and line a greased tart tin about 7 inches (approximately 18 cm) in diameter. Don’t try to roll it out too thin. If the pastry breaks or tears when you lift it into the tin, don’t worry too much. Press the broken edges back together like Plasticene and you’ll probably get away with it.
Bake the empty tart case in a hot oven (about 200 C) for about 15 minutes until golden brown and set. You can go through the palaver of blind-baking with the pastry weighted down with beans or marbles if you like, but I never bother.

To make the filling:
Put the butter, sugar and orange rind in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, and stir until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Remove the bowl from the heat, and beat in the juice of both oranges.
Pour into the cooked tart case.
Bake at about 180 C for about 15 minutes until the filling is set.
Serve hot or cold, with whipped cream if liked.

I generally expect to get about 6 slices out of this recipe, but it depends how large a slice you like.
The cooked tart will keep for 2-3 days at room temperature, if it gets the chance.

8 comments:

Bernita said...

That looks very good.
Interesting that here a tart is a filled pastry confection not usually bigger than 3 inches and anything larger is called a pie.

Kathryn Warner said...

Your recipes always make my mouth water, Carla. Delicious!

Carla said...

Bernita - Divided by a common language :-) Over here the basic distinction is that a tart has pastry underneath and never on top, while a pie always has pastry on top and may or may not have pastry underneath as well. Small tarts can still be called tarts (as in jam tarts, which are almost always the size you describe, 3 inches or less), though more recently they've started to be called tartlets or tartelettes. So far there isn't a word for a small pie.

Alianore - that's the idea!

Sarah Cuthbertson said...

I love your recipes. I especially like this one, where you say don't worry if the pastry breaks - mine always does even if it's ready-made, so I always end up doing the plasticene thing. It usually shrinks whilst baking blind too, to add to that really professional look. I need to go to pastry school, obviously. But undaunted I shall make your tart - it sounds like an ideal pud for winter. BTW I just had an Email from Lulu that Paths of Exile is on its way. Hurrah!

Carla said...

Sarah - You should be able to get Seville oranges for another week or two, but don't leave it too long! I use a tart tin with a small rim (about 0.5 cm?) and make sure the pastry goes right to the outer edge of the rim. Then when it shrinks in cooking, as it always does, the pastry case still ends up the right size. This is a very forgiving pastry recipe, and responds well to the Plasticine technique, which is one reason I use it a lot :-) It doesn't always break, but if it does it's not a disaster. I even forgot to cream it once and rubbed the fat into the flour and sugar by mistake, and it didn't even mind that. Highly recommended, even for those of us who didn't go to pastry school.
I hope you enjoy Exile - let me know what you think of it!

Constance Brewer said...

Why must you torture us?? :) All I can get is flavorless American ones.
Do they taste anything like Sicilian Blood Oranges? I'm not much of a tart person, but I think it's because I never get good ones like this. Orange pudding sounds very interesting, too.

I'm on a scone jag. I've made them every weekend for 6 weeks. Now I'm thinking orange scones. *g*

Carla said...

Constance - Sicilian Blood Oranges would probably do very well. They have flavour, as Sevilles do, but they're much sweeter, so you won't need anything like as much sugar. I'd start with 3 oz of sugar in the filling instead of 5 oz, taste it, and add more if you think necessary. The tart also works with lemons, just substitite 2 lemons for the 2 Sevilles in the original recipe.

Orange scones - why not? I used to make orange and sultana scones by adding the rind of an orange to ordinary sultana scone mix, plus half a teaspoon of cinnamon if I was feeling that way inclined. Some people use the orange juice to mix the dough instead of milk, but I used to just eat the rest of the orange.

Meghan said...

yum!