blood orange tarts with browned butter crust

I'm having issues lately. Not really issues, so much as my typical clumsiness. And specifically in relation to my morning coffee. Let me vent...

Yesterday I set my alarm extra early to be the bird that gets the worm. Groggily, I stumbled down to the kitchen, cursing my measly five and a half hours of sleep, already anxious about the work to be done that day, and in desperate need of caffeine. As I removed the old filter from the coffee maker, guess what happened? You already know, don't you? Yup, that's right. Dropped it. Wet, nasty grounds everywhere. On the counter. Down onto the tiled floor (and probably still stuck in the grout). Into the gas burners on my stove. All over my daggum sock, even. And there's nothing worse than a wet sock, daggumit. (sigh)

Fast forward to this morning. I love my Tuesday mornings. Nowhere to be. I can sit in my favorite chair, watch the snow fall, and sip my coffee as I read some homework. But, guess what happened? As I reached for my laptop, my daggum elbow knocked the full cup o' joe at my side...all down my white ottoman onto my white carpet and splashed onto my white chair. Moral of the story: maybe start investing in coffee-colored furniture?

And I thought I was doing so good by not getting any blood orange juice on my clothes...

Blood oranges recently started appearing in mass at my grocery store. Confession: I've never had a blood orange, but they're pretty so I bought them. I'm basically ridiculous in that way. But, they were actually pretty tasty in addition to being beautiful and these tarts turned out delicious...although less blood orange-colored than I had anticipated. I had been wanting to make mini tarts in my 4" tart pans for a while now and these are too stinkin' precious.

The crust is a traditional pastry crust, but you could totally do a graham cracker crust too. I might do that next time I make these. The filling is a blood orange curd. I ended up with a cup or two of extra filling to be used for other purposes...stay tuned. And definitely wear an apron (or two) just to be on the safe side! ;)

Blood Orange Tarts with Browned Butter Crust

crust ingredients:
1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp sea salt or kosher salt

blood orange curd ingredients:
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
6 eggs, beaten
2 egg yolks, beaten
zest of 3 blood oranges
1 1/4 cups blood orange juice (about six oranges)
1/4 cup (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" pieces

directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Set aside five 4" tart pans.

Make the crust. Put butter in a saucepan and melt over medium heat. Continue cooking the butter until it develops an amber color and begins to smell nutty. Remove from heat and stir sugar into butter until mostly dissolved.

Put flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in butter and sugar and mix until completely incorporated. Press mixture into the tart pans, working the dough up the sides of the pans and evenly across the bottom. Prick dough with a fork to prevent bubbles.

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden.

While the crust bakes, make the curd. Whisk together the cornstarch, sugar and the salt in a bowl. Mix in the eggs, zest, and juice. Place bowl over a pot with gently boiling water. Cook, stirring frequently until the curd has thickened to a pudding-like consistency, approximately 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and then, a few pieces at a time, stir in the butter until it is completely incorporated. Strain curd through a fine mesh strainer.

Pour the curd into the cooked crusts as soon as you take them out of the oven. Return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until the filling has thickened. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Serve chilled.

Yield: five 4" tarts

Source: White on Rice Couple