Chocolate and orange together is a match made in heaven – and if you can get your hands on some in-season blood oranges they make a delicious addition to this blood orange and chocolate tart. It consists of a chocolate, shortbread-like, crumbly tart base filled with blood orange curd and topped with smooth chocolate ganache. Be very careful when removing the tart from the tin as the pastry is very fragile (and all the more delicious for it); mine got a little stuck in the tin! However, it tastes just as good and I wanted to share it with you anyway. To make the tart, you will need:
For the pastry:
200 g plain flour
12g cacao powder (if you can’t get your hands on some, just double the amount of standard cocoa powder)
150 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
80 g soft brown sugar
For the blood orange curd:
2 blood oranges, finely grated zest of one and juice of both
40g caster sugar
45g butter
2 free-range eggs
For the ganache:
200ml cream
100g dark chocolate
To decorate:
One blood orange, cut into slices with the skin and pith removed.
First, make the base. Preheat the oven to 180C Fan and grease and line a 20cm tart tin. Place the pastry ingredients into a stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment on a medium speed until it comes together as a dough. Roll out on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar to around 5 mm thick. Place the pastry over the tart tin and press into the edges lightly. Trim any excess (you can roll it out and cut into shapes to bake on a separate tray). Blind bake for 20 minutes (place more parchment on top of the dough, weighed down with baking beans) then remove from the oven to cool slightly and take out the parchment. Bake for another 20 minutes until the pastry is cooked through, then set aside and leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the curd: melt the butter, sugar, citrus zest and juice in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and then add the eggs, beating all the time. Place back on the hob and heat very gently, stirring continually, until the mixture starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon. Allow to cool slightly then pour into the tart tin, levelling the surface. Place in the fridge to set.
Once the tart has set, make the ganache. Heat the cream until just starting to boil then add the chocolate, leaving it to stand for a few minutes. Mix until you have a smooth ganache, then pour carefully over the surface of the tart.
When you’re ready to serve the tart, decorate with slices of fresh blood orange.
Pastry inspired by Anja Dunk’s chocolate peppermint biscuits in her book, ‘Advent’, the rest is my invention!