Almond Orange Tart
Ronna Welsh
This almond orange tart wasn't finished until the sun went down, along with all camera-kind natural light. On a cream colored plate, the tart looks disconcertingly like an egg, an accurate association (curd being made from eggs), though terrible for temptation. But once you know more about the tart, you'll forgive it's failed screen test.
Making orange curd isn't hard, but requires an important, time-consuming initial step: Before cooking the fresh juice with egg yolks and sugar, you'll want to reduce it (slowly, so it doesn't caramelize) to a candy-sweet concentrate. To the finished curd, you'll add lemon juice and a pinch of salt. The right balance tastes popsicle perfect.
There is a lightly sweetened, quick-to-mix sour cream layer hidden underneath the curd, spread thickly onto a pre-baked almond crust. The combination is superb, and cues me to other ways of using these same components, including parfaits with crumbled almond cookies (store-bought, sure!) and roasted fruit.
Even ambitious desserts don't need to be one-shot deals.
Side note: My local market sells extra fresh-squeezed orange juice frozen, at a reduced price. When inclined, I'll buy a quart to cook down. The concentrated juice stores compactly, so future curds (not to mention, vinaigrettes, sorbets, and mimosas) come together quickly. 🍊
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