Rosemary Blood Orange Tarts with Meringue

What is Blood Orange Curd and Where Did it Come From?

Blood orange curd is a fruit based custard cooked over a double boiler or on the stovetop. Most people are more accustomed to seeing lemon curd, but you can use any other citrus (common) or any other fruit (less common) really.

Curd in its earliest form came from the English in the 1800s and was lemon. Lemon curd then was actually just taking lemon juice to help form curds from cream. That evolved into lemon cheese for baking where you would ‘rasp hard pieces of sugar’ against the lemon skin since zesters weren’t a thing yet. Obviously curd has come a long way since then now that we have microplanes and added eggs and butter to it. Read all about it here!

How to Make Rosemary Blood Orange Tarts:

What are Rosemary Blood Orange Tarts Made Of?

As a fruity dessert this rosemary blood orange curd tart recipe uses blood oranges as its star ingredient working well with herby rosemary. The rosemary comes into play in both the tart dough crust as well as steeped in the blood orange curd. Once all is set and done, this blood orange meringue tart is topped with a toasted meringue which is a great reason to bust out the blowtorch.

Make the Tart Dough:

If you are using store bought pie dough then you can skip this section! However, if you’re home making, the tart dough is a basic pate sucree dough which is a sweetened dough. Between the three major doughs (brisee, sucree, and sablee) the sweetness level is in the middle. It is essential not to overwork the dough (particularly the gluten) too much during making or rolling or else it will shrink when baking.

When making the dough, ensure that a dough does not form before you add the eggs. Once you add the eggs, mix just enough for the dough to form then give it a 30 minute rest wrapped in fridge before rolling it out. You can make the dough a week in advanced and storing in the fridge. In fact, I will usually make a double or triple batch of the recipe to freeze in separate portions for months. However, make sure to defrost the dough and that it’s of a temperature between room and fridge temp.

Roll, Shape, and Bake the Tart Dough

If you’ve never rolled out dough before it can be tricky the first time to get a feel for it. Start with a floured surface. With a rolling pin or similar object, roll by pushing out on all sides to form a rough circle, and frequently move or turn the dough to prevent sticking. If it does start to stick, sprinkle a little more flour. Roll to a quarter inch thick (store bought included!) and even. Run your hand over the dough and try to feel if any sections are thicker or thinner than ideal. Again, we don’t want to overwork the dough; you can only roll it out twice before needing to toss it.

Cut circles (or awkward shapes like I do) an inch larger than your tart tins. When forming into the tin make sure to press into the corners so you have nice clean corners. Use a knife to trim off any excess, and poke holes in the bottom (also known as docking) to help prevent any bubbles forming and freeze. Freezing is essential because when you go to bake it, the flour in the tart dough will start to bake and solidify before the butter has time to melt preventing your sides from falling down. Freeze for at least one hour, but preferably 2 or more.

We will be fully baking these tart shells before adding the curd. Bake at 350*F until the edges start to turn brown. The holes of the dough is usually enough to prevent any bubbles, but you can also use pie weights or a saran wrap bag of rice. If you do notice any bubbles forming poke a small hole on top and push out the air. Be careful though because that is hot steam!

Make the Blood Orange Curd

The citrus curd utilizes the stove top method which uses cornstarch as the primary thickening agent. Curd recipes are usually for lemon curds, and since blood oranges are sweeter we need to reduce the sugar. Because of this, we use the stove top method which creates a much nicer tasting curd with a better mouthfeel. It’s also quick and easy. I add lemon juice to help enhance the blood orange flavor. The rosemary is steeped in with the juices and cooked with the curd. To do so, use a loose leaf tea bag, cheesecloth, or strain out before adding the eggs.

To allow enough time for the rosemary to steep, let the juices slowly come to a boil. When using cornstarch as a thickening agent you need to whisk it into something liquid first (called making a slurry) before adding it to the boiling juices, and it must be cooked to be activated as a thickening agent. Add in your slurry, bring to a boil and cook for an additional minute to allow the cornstarch to activate, thicken, and to cook out the cornstarch taste and texture. Immediately portion the curd in the tarts because it does set very quickly. If serving same day, get those cooling in the fridge.

Prepare the Meringue and Finish the Rosemary Blood Orange Tarts

Decorating with meringue is of course optional but highly recommended. There are three types of meringues: American, Swiss, and Italian. Each one is cooked differently. American style is not cooked at all and is the least stable. Swiss style has the egg whites and sugar cooked until the sugar dissolves and has a medium stability. And Italian style cooks the sugar to 250*F and is the most stable. Depending on what you’re making depends on what stye of meringue you should use. Since we are just decorating, Swiss works well here.

You simply cook the whites and sugar over a double boiler until the sugar dissolves whisking minimally. Then you whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Done. How you pipe and decorate is your choice. Also, don’t forget to bust out the blowtorch if you are equipped (the best part). Torch the meringue by turning the flame to medium and torch with swift, even strokes with the flame an inch or two away from the meringue. Don’t let the flame settle on one spot or else it will burn. Garnish your winter blood orange dessert with rosemary sprigs and blood orange slices or zest!