Blood Orange Tart with Salted Poppy Seed Caramel

To some, citrus seems like a very summery ingredient, but It's no wonder that most citrus is in season during winter. Citrus makes everything taste a little fresher and a little brighter, which this season desperately needs. A squeeze of lemon juice can brighten up most savory dishes, from salads to soups to pastas, and a pinch of orange zest can take a plum pudding to new levels.

I also love to decorate the kitchen with big bowls of fresh citrus - a big bowl of lemons, another of blood oranges. For Christmas dinner, I even used satsumas to decorate the table - everyone just loves their little attached leaves. It could be the dreariest of Januaries out there, but filling your kitchen with citrus somehow makes it all a little brighter.

This recipe comes from the need to use up some of that citrus that I insist on filling my kitchen with—I have this tendency to overbuy citrus because it looks so pretty. Whatever I made, I knew I wanted to use slices of blood orange because I think the color is just so beautiful. What I did was make a tart shell, pour in warm salted poppy seed caramel, top that with blood orange mascarpone, and then layer thin slices of candied blood orange to finish it off. It's scrumptious, bittersweet, and somehow fresh. It hits all the spots.

There's nothing wrong with using a pre-made tart shell for this recipe. The recipe below is for one tart and I used a rectangular tart pan (13 3/4" by 4 1/2"), but I'm sure this would work great as a round tart also!

Ingredients

Tart shell:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large egg

1-3 tbsp. ice water, as needed

Candied blood orange:

2 blood oranges, thinly sliced (you need about 16 slices for a rectangular tart)

1 cup sugar

3 quarts water

Poppy seed caramel:

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

6 tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup poppy seeds

1/2 tsp. coarse salt, like fleur de sel

Blood orange mascarpone:

1 six-ounce container mascarpone, at room temperature

1 tsp. blood orange zest

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Method

For the tart shell:

In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar, and salt and pulse a few times to combine.

Add the butter and pulse about 5-10 times, or until the butter looks like the size of peas.

With the food processor running, add the egg through the feed tube and slowly start to add the ice water until the dough begins to form a ball.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, form it into a slightly flattened disc (if you're using a rectangular tart pan, take the time to form a bit of a rectangle before chilling - it makes rolling out the dough much easier later) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes*.

On a lightly floured board, begin to roll the dough out to your desired shape (round or rectangle), about 1/4" thick.

Transfer the dough to your tart pan and be sure to fit the dough into every nook and cranny. You can either use a small paring knife to cut the dough all the way around or run your rolling pin around the edge of the pan, easily cutting the tart shell to fit.

The key to a great tart shell is chilling it one more time before baking it. Pop it into the refrigerator for about an hour or, better yet, into the freezer for about 20 minutes.

Now is the time to preheat your oven to 375°F. I usually just poke holes across the bottom of the crust with a fork, but you can also line the crust with foil and top with pie weights (or dried beans or another substitute) and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Allow to cool completely before removing the tart shell from the pan.

*NOTE: if you chill your dough much longer than 30 minutes, let it sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes before rolling it out. If the dough is too cold, it will break and crumble as you begin to roll it out.

For the candied blood orange:

The basic idea here is to boil the blood orange slices, then let them simmer in simple syrup until the pith is nearly translucent.

In a large saucepan, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Boil the blood orange slices for 2 minutes, remove, and let try on a towel.

Dump out all but 1 cup of the boiling water, then add the sugar, and bring up to a gentle simmer on medium-low heat. Swirl the pan gently to ensure all the sugar is dissolving evenly.

Once all the sugar has dissolved, add the blood orange slices, stir to coat, and allow this to simmer on low heat for about an hour, or until the orange pith is nearly translucent.

Remove the slices from the syrup and allow them to cool on parchment or wax paper.

For the poppy seed caramel:

In a heavy-bottomed medium or large saucepan, combine the sugar and water, making sure that the sugar has evenly absorbed all the water. Bring this to a boil over medium heat. Do not stir. If you notice any sugar granules not dissolving, just swirl the pan gently.

Watch for the color to change from clear syrup to light golden to amber. At this point, watch very carefully. The exact moment that the caramel starts to turn a bit darker brown and you can start to smell the smokiness of the sugar cooking, turn off the fire and immediately stir in the butter and cream using a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon.

Once everything has combined gloriously to make a luscious caramel sauce, stir in the poppy seeds and salt. Transfer to a heatproof glass or ceramic container and allow to cool for a bit. When filling the tart, you want the caramel to still be slightly warm and pourable - it just makes it easier.

For the blood orange mascarpone:

In a medium bowl, whisk all ingredients together until well combined.

Assembling the Tart

While the caramel is still slightly warm and pourable, pour an even layer of caramel into the tart shell. (Keep any leftover sauce for ice cream!) Pop it into the fridge and let it harden a bit.

When the caramel is no longer warm to the touch, top it with blood orange mascarpone and spread it evenly into the tart. Pop it back into the fridge to allow it to firm up - preferably, about an hour. If you cut into it while the caramel and mascarpone are still at room temperature, the layers might start to ooze out. (If you're good with that, so am I. I don't judge.) You don't want the tart to be ice cold, you just want it to be firm enough to cut into it.

When you take it out of the fridge, layer the blood orange slices over the top. Cut and serve!