Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

We’ve reached the end of The Steakhouse Series, and what a ride it’s been. We’ve dissected the institution that is the North American steakhouse, poked fun at its failings, celebrated its triumphs, and finally, eradicated our need for it. If you can pull off an iceberg wedge salad with poached figs, a loaded baked potato with creamy, creamy goat cheese sauce, and a beast of a porterhouse, why do even you need a steakhouse? You don’t. And with this Winter Citrus Tart joining the roster, you’re pretty much a full-service dinner party machine. Feel free to bask in your self-sufficency.

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Ingredients - Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

Yes, we’ve finally reached the sweet finale of this series and I bet you’re surprised it’s not a cheesecake. When most people think of a steakhouse desset, they think NY cheesecake topped with glossy cherries. But I didn’t go down that road. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally down with the cheesecake. It’s rich, lush, and oh so creamy. But it’s also a little much.

Almond Cream - Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

When I go to restaurants, I don’t often order desserts. But when my sweet tooth takes over and there is a cheesecake to be had, I will order it. I really don’t have cheesecake outside of these moments. In fact, I’ve only made cheesecake a handful of times. The reason for this is simple – they are so dang rich. In a household populated with two people, a full-sized cheesecake will inevitably outlive its shelf life. Plus, one slice is more than enough to satisfy even my most aggressive cheesecake cravings.

Pate Sucree - Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream
Pate Sucree - Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

But beyond my on-again-off-again relationship with cheesecake, I opted for this Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream because of its seasonality. Valentine’s Day falls in the middle of winter and winter is a bleak time of year. But the season has one thing going for it and that’s citrus. And if we’re not going to take the opportunity to celebrate the best of this crap time of year in the middle of February, when are we?

Almond Cream - Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

I will never understand why chocolate covered strawberries are associated with Valentine’s Day. Strawberries are far from in-season right now. The only berries available at this time are big, honking ones that are tart, watery, and largely disappointing. I can see why you’d want to douse them in chocolate if you had to eat them, I just don’t understand why you’d choose to.

Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

So yeah, today’s Winter Citrus Tart is not a steakhouse classic or a Valentine’s Day ritual. It’s just something delicious I dreamed up. But in spite of its lack of steakhouse status, I do feel it captures the sophistication and luxury of the cuisine. The almond cream is rich in flavor and texture, the citrus segments provide a complex tartness and the Pâte sucrée makes the whole thing feel fancy. Remember when I said North American steakhouses borrowed freely from French cuisine for the fine dining street cred? I did the same thing.

When today’s Winter Citrus Tart is fully dressed it glints like an opulent jewel. But in spite of its elegant appearance, this tart is fairly easy to execute. No, really. It may not be an instant recipe, but the majority of it’s prep time is entirely inactive. Just remember to give yourself half a day to let it set and there will be no tears this Valentine’s Day. Or, if there is, it won’t be the tart’s fault.

The largest hurdle involved in making this Winter Citrus Tart is the pastry. Pâte sucrée is prone to shrinkage, which in the context of Valentine’s Day, can be seen as a depressingly bad omen. Make all the dirty jokes you care to, I’ll wait… You can avoid this pastry pitfall, by weighing the pastry down with granulated sugar throughout the blind baking process. It works like a dream and it gives you a fun new ingredient to play with. May I suggest a batch of Roasted Sugar Beignets?

The almond cream is an absolute snap to make. If you’ve ever made pastry cream before, you are more than adequately prepared to make this filling. First, you have to make your cream taste like almonds, which is as simple as over steeping tea, which I’m incredibly gifted at. Simply bring your cream and sugar up to a low simmer and chuck in some coarsely chopped almonds. Cover the pot and let steep for 2 hours. Pretty much the easiest thing in the world. After that, you can proceed by making pastry cream as one would in all circumstances. Nothing to be afraid of.

Finally, the last leg of this journey is all about decorating, which is pretty much the best. I don’t know about you, but I basically make desserts just to decorate them. All you do is gather up some citrus segments and artfully arrange them across the surface of your filled, chilled tart. I used a grapefruit, two cara cara oranges, a navel orange, and two limes. I really enjoyed the contrast between the sweet of the oranges, the astringency of the lime, and the slightly bitter hit from the grapefruit. But you can use any combination citrus you like. Heck, you can use one kind of citrus and call it day – I’m not your mom.

And with that, the Steakhouse Series is done. I hope you’ve enjoyed this string of posts and, more importantly, I hope you’ll put them to good use. This Winter Citrus Tart is particularly well worth the effort.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

Vibrant citrus segments find a home on a bed of creamy almond cream cradled by a crisp, cookie-like crust. This Winter Citrus Tart is worth falling for.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chill/Steep Time 6 hours
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

Almond Cream

  • 2 cups half & half
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 cups unsalted almonds coarsely chopped
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • 4 tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into chunks
  • 1 tsp almond extract

Pâte Sucrée

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup cold unsalted butter cut into chunks

Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

  • 1/2 batch Pâte Sucrée see above
  • 1 batch Almond Cream see above
  • 2 cara cara oranges cut into segments
  • 1 grapefruit cut into segments
  • 1 naval orange cut into segments
  • 2 limes cut into segments
  • 1 handful unsalted almonds coarsely chopped
  • fresh mint leaves

Instructions
 

Almond Cream

  • Pour the half & half, sugar and salt into a small saucepan and stir. Place the pan over medium-low heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Take the pan off of the heat and add the almonds. Cover and let steep for two hours.
  • Pour the half & half mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the solids. Return the strained half & half mixture to the pot and set aside.
  • In a small bowl whisk the egg yolks and cornstarch together until the mixture is smooth and pale yellow in color. Set aside.
  • Return the saucepan with the half & half mixture to the heat. Bring back to a gentle simmer. Ladle roughly 1/2 a cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and cook until the pastry cream is thick enough to readily coat the back of a spoon. Take the pan off of the heat and stir in the butter and almond extract. Keep stirring until the butter melts completely.
  • Pour the finished almond cream into a baked pastry shell and chill for 2 hours or until set.

Pâte Sucrée

  • Prepare the Pâte Sucrée while the Almond Cream is steeping. That way the pastry will be ready to go when the Almond Cream is still hot and pourable.
  • Whisk the egg yolks, heavy cream, and vanilla together in a small bowl. Set aside.
  • In a large food processor, pulse to combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Set the food processor to low and gradually add the cubes of cold butter. Blitz until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
  • With the food processor still set to low, slowly stream in the egg mixture. Blitz until the dough starts to come together.
  • Place the dough on a well-floured surface and form into a ball. Cut the ball in half and form into two discs. Wrap the discs tightly with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge. Let chill for 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Preheat the oven 375°F. Place 1 disc of the pastry on a floured piece of parchment paper and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.
  • Using a floured rolling pin, roll the pastry out to a 1/4 of an inch thick. Line a 9-inch tart pan with the pastry and pierce all over with a fork. Cover the pastry the parchment paper you use to roll out the pastry and fill with granulated sugar. Transfer the tart shell to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Let cool completely.

Winter Citrus Tart with Almond Cream

  • Once the tart has had a chance to chill for 2 hours, you can decorate. Place the citrus segments on top of the tart in a flower formation. I found it best to work from the outside in. 
  • Garnish the tart with mint leaves and coarsely chopped almonds. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.

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