Orange curd tart with rose & cardamom cream and almond & orange brittle

This was the first dessert I cooked on MasterChef and I am pleased to say it was well received by John, Greg and the previous contestants. The flavours of orange, rose and cardamom complement each other perfectly; a real taste of the Mediterranean.

Serves: 3 - 4 (depending on size of tin)

Difficulty: Medium

Time: 1.15 hrs

Ingredients

For the orange curd

  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 100g golden caster sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 115ml freshly squeezed orange & lemon juice
  • 125g butter, diced (cold)
  • Icing sugar (to dust)

For the rose & cardamom cream

  • 150g mascarpone
  • 150g double cream
  • 5x green cardamom pods
  • ½ tsp rose water
  • 50g white caster sugar

For the Italian meringue

  • 225g caster sugar
  • 150ml water
  • 90g egg whites

For the pastry

  • 175g plain flour
    (plus extra for dusting)
  • 100g cold butter
  • 25g icing sugar
  • 1large egg yolk
  • 1orange

For the almond & orange brittle

  • 50g flaked toasted almonds
  • 1orange (peel only)
  • 200g White Caster Sugar

Orange curd tart with rose & cardamom cream and almond & orange brittle

This was the first dessert I cooked on MasterChef and I am pleased to say it was well received by John, Greg and the previous contestants. The flavours of orange, rose and cardamom complement each other perfectly; a real taste of the Mediterranean.

Method

For the Pastry

  1. Set the Oven to 180°C (Fan)
  2. In a free-standing mixer with paddle attachment add the plain flour, icing sugar, finely chopped zest of 1 orange and the cubed cold butter then mix until it forms crumbs. If you don’t have a stand mixture you can use your hands; gently rub the dry ingredients and the butter together between your fingers and thumbs much like you would if you were making a crumble topping.
  3. Add 1 egg yolk and continue to mix until it forms a smooth dough. You may need to add a little bit of cold water to bring it together but do this in small amounts; you want a smooth dough not a wet one!
  4. Unlike most pastry you do not put this version in the fridge to rest (see hints and tips). In fact if you do it’s likely to shrink back when blind baking so for the best results use straight away.
  5. Grease four 10cm diameter fluted tart cases with butter and cut out 4 sheets of baking parchment which are large enough to line the pastry cases.
  6. Flour a work surface and roll out the pastry to approx. 2mm thick. Cut out 4 discs with a cookie cutter which is bigger than the tart cases (about 14cm) and enough to ensure you can line the tart cases comfortably with room to spare.
  7. If the pastry tears whilst lining the tins just patch up any holes with the left over pastry. Make sure you don’t trim the edges as this point to allow for a little shrinkage (you can tidy up the edges once cooked).
  8. Prick the base of the tarts lightly with a fork and line with the prepared baking paper. I like to scrunch the paper up first in a ball and then unroll, as the creased paper sits more easily in to the round tins.
  9. Finally fill the lined pastry cases with baking beads or rice and bake in the oven for 13 minutes. This is known as blind baking.
  10. After 13 minutes remove the tarts from the oven and gently remove the beans or rice and baking parchment. Then return the pastry cases to the oven for a further 7 mins to brown and finish cooking. While the pastry is cooking you can be getting on with making your orange curd (see below).
  11. Once the tart cases have finished cooking and have cooled take a sharp knife and gently trim the edges of the tart cases of any excess pastry so that you have a neat edge.
  12. Fill the cases with the orange curd almost to the top and then place in fridge for 30 mins until set (they can be left overnight).
  13. Once the curd is set pipe the Italian meringue over the top. You can choose to cover just half the tart as I have done (I like this as it allows some of the bright orange curd to shine through) or cover the whole tart. It’s up to you!
  14. Lightly brown the meringue with a blow-torch or place under the grill for about 10 – 20 seconds to get the same effect.

For the Orange Curd

  1. Mix the egg yolks, caster sugar, vanilla bean paste, orange and lemon juice (I tend to use the juice from one lemon and then make up to 115ml with the orange) and finely chopped zest of one orange together and then add to a saucepan. Cook on a low-medium heat for 5 mins stirring frequently with a whisk.
  2. After 5 minutes add the cold, diced butter bit by bit. It is very important that you only add the butter one piece at a time, stirring constantly until it’s melted before adding the next. Keep repeating this process, continually stirring, until all the butter has been combined and the curd has thickened. This will take approximately 15 mins in total, so some patience is required.
  3. Whilst the curd is still warm pour into the prepared pastry cases and leave to set (as per instructions above).

For the Italian Meringue

  1. Put the sugar into a small saucepan over a low heat and gently pour over the water.
  2. Put the egg whites into an electric mixer and whisk at a slow speed only increasing to high once the sugar is nearly ready. You don’t want to reach the stiff peak stage too early.
  3. Once the sugar has reached 121°C (approx. after 10 minutes) pour it slowly over the egg whites, continuing to whisk at a high speed.
  4. Once the sugar syrup has been added, continue to whisk until the meringue has cooled to room temperature.
  5. Transfer into piping bags and pipe small kisses over one half of the tart, leaving the other half exposed so you can see the orange curd.
  6. When ready to serve brown the meringue with a blow torch or under a hot grill.

For the Cream

  1. Add the mascarpone, double cream and sugar in a bowl and whisk gently until smooth. You can use a balloon whisk or a hand held electric mixer, whichever you prefer. Just be sure not to over whip the cream, you want it to hold soft peaks and nothing more.
  2. Lightly toast the cardamom pods in a pan, break them open and remove the seeds, then grind these in a pestle and mortar or with the back of a knife on a chopping board.
  3. Add the ground cardamom and 2 drops of rose water to the cream and mix. Set aside until ready to use – the longer you leave it the more the flavours will infuse in to the cream.

For the Brittle

  1. Add the caster sugar to a frying pan and cook on a low -medium heat until caramelised (see hints and tips). It should be a light, nutty brown.
  2. Put the almonds and finely chopped zest from 1 orange onto a silicon matt (or a baking sheet covered in baking parchment) and pour the hot caramel over the top. Leave it to cool.
  3. Once cold break in to shards, then crush some of them with a pestle and mortar (or wrap in a tea towel and smash with a rolling pin) until you have brittle crumbs.

To plate

  1. I like to put a sweep of flavoured cream on one side of the plate and sit the tart in the centre. Next take the brittle crumb and sprinkle a generous helping over the top of the cream. I then decorate the plate with nasturtium flowers (which are edible) and taste peppery which complement the flavours on the plate perfectly – it also looks really pretty.

Orange_tart_body

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