“I’ve always admitted that I’m ruled by my passions.”
Elizabeth Taylor
Life is forever throwing up surprises and these days, more often than never, they are not very nice. They leave you feeling unsettled, strangely disoriented. First it was the tsunami in Japan with an aftermath that continues to pose new dangers and challenges, still very very unnerving. Then came the UN mandated intervention in Gaddafi’s Libya which makes you wonder where the world is headed. On another note, I was sad to read about the passing away of the great screen legend Elizabeth Taylor, married eight times to seven men, and one of the most fiesty and passionate stars of Hollywood…
In the midst of this, dessert offers soothing comfort. Some days I don’t think there’s going to be dessert on the table, and out of the blue I get inspired by the things that surround me. Does that happen to you? My inspiration was from my shrub of sour oranges that I was watering in the garden that morning. I could see a small number of ripe fruit ready for picking, tempting me in the early morning light and I remembered Arans post on sour oranges. Maybe I could try something similar …
The creation of this recipe has roots in a story of another failed batch of macarons, this time inspired yet again by some pretty feet I saw which were a result of macarons made the Italian meringue way. I was bowled over, got very ambitious, and decided to make a large batch! My ambition … 5 egg whites = M A N Y pretty feet, countless colours and soaring dreams!
Well the dreams nose dived pretty soon, as my hands shook nervously on my maiden Italian meringue journey to find feet! Then the bell rang, roadworks outside, the internet cable had been cut yet again … and my journey was rudely interrupted! Never easy to pick up where you leave, and in error I left out the granulated sugar in the egg whites! That discovery made too late, yet not to be defeated, I still piped out tray after tray hoping to have broken new macaron ground! FAIL!! Flat as flat can be was my fate … in addition to 5 egg yolks that stared back at me!
The pressure was now on. Freezing egg yolks is not quite my thing, and lemon curd had been made quite often … so the question was thrown open to the fabulous bunch of peeps on twitter. Pastry cream won! These tartlets are a result of all the inspiration from the food bloggers that surround me and from food blogs I enjoy reading. Chocolate found its way into the creme pâtisserie was just because I wanted something chocolate, deep and seductive!
Hurry makes curry & I halved the oranges before checking Canelle et Vanille but it was too late. Aran had cooked the sour oranges whole…bother, I messed up! But the mind was set, and I continued in my own way and made these absolutely delicious tarts in a walnut shortcrust type pastry! The pastry is inspired to include rice flour from these tartlet shells I saw at Tartlette.
Dark chocolate + Orange + Walnut = VERY NICE!! The 3 flavours compliment each other beautifully. The sour orange chocolate creme pâtisserie is luscious and divine, and the walnut shortcrust pastry, light and melting in the mouth! I had SO MUCH FUN making these. The little tart tins are a bunch I picked up from my little shop in Old Delhi and I just LOVE using them.
There is something eternally charming about setting and serving individual desserts. It’s a fun way to do desserts, and one of my favourite ways. The pastry shells can be made a day or two in advance, and the tartlets can be assembled a day in advance.
Recipe: Dark Chocolate and Sour Orange Walnut Tartlets
Summary: Inspired to use the egg yolks on hand, and a beautiful shrub full of the prettiest tangerines, or sour oranges resulted in these little tartlets for dessert. It was half a morning of work, and was worth every second. Dark chocolate, orange and walnut compliment each other beautifully!
Ingredients
- Walnut Pastry
1/8 cup {16g/2tbsp} vanilla sugar
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
1/2 cup {50gm} walnuts {I used frozen walnuts}
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp {50gm} rice flour
1 1/4 cup {150Gm} plain flour
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp {130gm} unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
2-3 tbsp chilled water- Sour Orange Puree
160gms sour oranges, halved, deseeded
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water- Chocolate Creme Pâtisserie
1 cup {200gm} vanilla sugar
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
4 egg yolks
300ml warm milk
200ml cold milk
1/4 cup {30g} cornflour
1 cup {150gm} dark chocolate chipsInstructions
- Walnut Pastry
Grind sugar and vanilla bean in the bowl of your processor. {TM- Speed 9 / 20 seconds}.
Add walnuts and pulse briefly to grind. {TM-Speed 9 / 10 seconds X 2}
Add flour and salt and pulse to mix {TM – Turbo 1-2 times}
Add chilled butter and pulse till you get a breadcrumb like mix {TM – Speed 6/ 20seconds}
Add yolk and water and process until the dough begins to come together {TM - Interval speed 30seconds}
Knead lightly on a floured surface to make a smooth dough. Wrap in clingwrap and chill for 30minutes to an hour.
Preheat oven to 200C.
Divide the dough into 8 parts and roll out on a lightly floured surface to line tart tins.
Bake for 15-20 minutes till light brown. Cool completely on cookie rack. {Can me made a day or two in advance. Store in an airtight container in a cool place}.- Sour Orange Puree
Halve and deseed the sour oranges.
Add 1/4 cup water and cook for 25-20 minutes on simmer until soft {TM – Speed reverse / 9 minutes}.
Add sugar and blend to smooth puree {TM - Speed 9 – 5-7 seconds}- Chocolate Creme Pâtisserie
Mix cornflour into the cold milk. Reserve.
Grind the sugar with the vanilla bean. {TM – Speed 9 / 5 seconds}
Add yolks to sugar and whisk immediately. {TM – Add yolks / Speed 4 / 5 seconds}
Bring the warm milk to a simmering boil, pour a little over the whisked yolks, mixing constantly, and pour this mixture back into the pan. WHISK CONSTANTLY. {TM - add all remaining ingredients / 90 / Speed 4 / 7 minutes … till it’s as thick as you like}
Once it comes to a simmering boil, pour in the cold milk/cornflour mix, stirring constantly. Add the choclate chips and continue to stir on simmer till it reaches desired thickness
Once ready, transfer immediately to a glass bowl and allow to cool for about 30 minutes.
Assembling tartlets:
Spoon chocolate creme pâtisserie into the walnut tart shells and chill for 3-4 hours before serving.Notes
The dark chocolate creme pâtisserie is indulgent and can be made sans the sour oranges too. It’s a nice standard recipe to have on hand.
Thermomix timings are mentioned in brackets under TM.
Variations
You can use espresso/coffee powder for a variation to the creme pâtisserie instead of orange.
Cooking time (duration): 3 hours + chilling time
Number of servings (yield): 8-10
Meal type: Dessert
My rating:
Copyright © Deeba @ Passionate About Baking.
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Such gorgeous photos. I always love your posts!
I’m glad you found a good way to use up the yolks!
Kaitlin´s last [type] ..Broken – Butter Pecan Ice Cream
The tartlets look fabulous. And as always, great photography and presentation
Loved the pictures that used ladder as the prop…I love the fact that you always seems to find the simple things around make use of it beautifully to create stunning food shots…:) Wish I had half as talent as you…Those tartlets looks very pretty…I could just dive in and indulge
Such gorgeous pictures. Loved the one with couple of oranges and a rustic stair step
Vijitha´s last [type] ..SPINACH CHICKEN
What fabulous tartlets! Surely divine.
Beautiful clicks.
Cheers,
Rosa
I made similar tartlets recently and loved the combination, you really can’t go wrong with these flavours!
Dark chocolate + orange + walnuts…Yumm!! Must have been a great combo, D. So lucky to have your own orange shrub in your backyard. Did you plant the seeds or got the sapling from nursery?
Sanjeeta kk´s last [type] ..Eggless Barley & Raisin Scones – A Scrumptious Breakfast to Start Your Day With!
I love the pics of the chocolate… Lovely tarts
What fantastic little tartlets. A wonderful flavor combination.
Lora´s last [type] ..Burnt Almond Cream
Cant take my eyes from ur clicks, wat a fantastic tartlets, i dont bother to have some..
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This looks divine! So delicious!
These look so beautiful Deeba. How I would love to just grab one and taste it. Tangerines are one of favorite citrus fruit and they go so well with dark chocolate.
Magda
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These are fantastic. I have never seen sour oranges. Nice pictures! Have a great week-end!
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What a lovely combination and the pics make me drool
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Gorgeous tartlets!! They look fabulous!
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Gorgeous! Yum, too. Love choc/orange combo.
Drrroooool all over….I have been thinking of whipping up a nice warm chocolate dessert from some days now….just putting it off coz there has been too much sweets and ice cream from the last few days….but these pics have me craving again!!! Now i really have to get my molten lava cake craving to rest!!
S o this is what you did with all the yolks. Beautiful creation. You are one talented Momma Deeba. Lucky family
Dear Deeba I love dark chocolate cream!! look amazing and delicous of course, and the pictures tempting, send you huggs
Love the tartlets. are soooo cute!
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Yummmy! This recipe looks amazing! I wish I could go make it right now! The photographs are amazing! Adding your blog to my favorites list!!
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That cute little basket with oranges and tarts make me go all dreamy! it is enchanting~
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Everything is just gorgeous!
Deeba, these look amazing. I love orange and dark chocolate together and these tarts look perfect!
Dark chocolate and sour orange..great combination of flavours..
Love it:-)
Awesome awesome clicks…cant stop starring at them:-)
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Dark chocolate and Orange is ok for my mom too. I am always happy when I discover new recipes for my mom. She is not allowed to eat meat, she is fighting cancer…
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Dark chocolate with sour orange…what a wonderful combination. Your tartlets make my mouth water. And I just love your little tartlet pans!
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The tart looks wonderful.
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Your pictures are amazing. Love love love this recipe. Check out my blog if you get the chance!
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Wow, you just combined 3 of my favourite flavours – chocolate, orange and nuts. These little fellas sound wickedly good.
And much as I hate to repeat people, your photography is fantastic. Every frame has the food just leaping off the page. My personal pet hate for any cookery book is bad photography – or even worse still, no photographs.
We definitely eat with our eyes first
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Oh yum Deeba, these look gorgeous!! I see that you’ve started using micro-formatting. Is it helping??
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wow i love chocolate and orange together sounds and looks delicious!
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great flavours – and I have had a week where when things work I am all the more grateful because others haven’t so I imagine these gave you great pleasure just to see your baking mojo restored as well as being delicious
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Love the chocolate and orange combination.