TWD-The Most Extraordinary Orange Cream Tart

This weeks recipe chosen by http://startingfromscratch-mary.blogspot.com/, seemed straight forward but challenging when I read it. But I ended up having trouble with a few things. First off, I decided to make the orange cream instead of the lemon cause I was feeling lemoned out. I tried to find blood oranges but couldn't so I ended up with Cara Cara navel. They have a very orange almost red flesh and are very sweet. I loved zesting and rubbing the sugar. I think this is an essential step and really imparts a ton of flavor to your finished tart.

The crust came together nicely and was easy to work with. I decided to make mini tarts and put cut our stars on top so I also made tiny cookies. Dorie even mentions that the dough can go from not done to over done in a flash, but I totally burnt the stars and had no more dough, so I guess the tops will be bare. But I watched the mini tarts until they stated to brown and then removed them to cool. they even came out of the pans easily, which I was worried about cause mini pans do not have removable bottoms. But they are beautiful!

Making the cream was a bit challenging. I read about people having trouble reaching 180 degrees F, so I was worried. But mine came up to temperature pretty quickly, about 12 minutes, and smelled like an Orange Julius! I then strained out the zest and put the cram in a blender to cool. After about 10 or so minutes I started adding butter! My mom was over helping me and was shocked at the amount of butter. But oh the taste! I almost forgot to add the gelatin and put it in last, but i don't think it made a difference. the cream was not super thick when I put it in the fridge to cool, but in the morning it was crazy thick. It was difficult for me to put it in the tarts and make it look nice. I really need those cookies now!

Over all a really amazing dessert. the texture and flavor of the cream is amazing. It would make an over the top filling in a cake too. I will definitely be making this again. And the sweet crust. really great crumb and flavor and easy to put together.

The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart

1 cup sugar

Grated zest of 3 lemons

4 large eggs

¾ c fresh lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)

2 sticks plus 5 T butter(10 ½ ounces) unsalted butter,

cut into tablespoon size pieces, at room temperature.

1 9-inch tart shell made with sweet tart dough

(see below).

Getting ready:Have a instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (1st choice) or food processor at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.
Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy, and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.
Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture fees tepid to the touch. Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk- you whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling- you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point- the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience- depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp may take as long as 10 minutes (note: TWD bakers report average of 20-30 and up to 40 minutes for this step…..and sometimes it never got above 160F but turned out ok!!)
As soon as it reaches 180F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the lender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.
Turn the blender to high (or turn on the processor) and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going- to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to bend the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests, and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.
Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight. (the cream will keep in the fridge for 4 days or, tightly sealed, in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator)
When you are ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell. Serve the tart, or refrigerate until needed.