Tangelo Tarts

The tangelo (which I have nicknamed ‘nipple fruit’) is a simply marvelous fruit and could fast become my new favourite citrus.

Bought on a whim in a local fruit market fly by while struck by a brain flash moment of “Tangelo Tarts” (due to my love of alliteration) I landed home with three of these deep orange beauties in my hand. I haven’t seen tangelos much in Australia, but I do have to wonder if it is just because I haven’t been looking for them?

A wonderfully fragrant and juice laden fruit with a thin pith that you can peel with your hands, the heady scent it provides is a mix between tangerine and grapefruit (the parents of this citrus fruit hybrid). The most surprising element of this fruit is that the juice this beauty offers is astonishing in quantity.

Without knowing anything about this citrus before I bought it, upon arriving home I did some recipe research online and quickly realised it is perhaps an under-utilised fruit. The tart idea had held me hostage ever since my light-bulb moment at the market, but as a completely novice tart maker I knew I would need some inspiration.

Armed with a mind full of newly-read fruit tart recipes and this recipe as my main muse, I cut into a tangelo, tasted a segment and got to work.

While tarts are time consuming, I am fully aware of their great reward and so encourage all to try making a sweet fruit tart from scratch. After finishing and tasting these bright beauties, a tart seems like the perfect way to feature this fruit and have it steal the show – alla Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. 

With the aromatic and earthy cardamom highlighting a perfectly crumbly base, and the tangelo flavour incorporated through the tart in three ways (juice in the filling, segments on top and rind in the toffee), the tangelo was clearly the star. However, more surprisingly the tart still a delicate lightness with all elements seeming to sing in unison.

TANGELO TARTS

Adapted from Australian Good Taste

PASTRY
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup icing mixture
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
125g chilled butter, chopped
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water

FILLING AND TOPPING
2/3 cup cream
Juice of 1 tangelo
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tangelos, segmented
1/4 cup water
100g caster sugar, extra
Rind of 1/2 tangelo, thinly sliced

Starting with the pastry, in a food processor mix flour, icing mixture, cardamom and butter until the mixture looks like very fine breadcrumbs. Add the yolk and cold water and mix again until the dough comes together into a ball of dough (might take a minute or two).

remove the dough from food processor and knead until smooth. Wrap the dough in glad wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes roll out the pastry into to 4mm thick, cut into four circles and line four 12cm fluted tart tins (with removable bases) with the pastry. Place tins in the fridge and rest the dough for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Cover pastry with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or rice. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove paper and weights or rice. Bake for 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 160 degrees Celsius.

In a pouring bowl place cream, tangelo juice, caster sugar and eggs and whisk until combined (do not over-whisk as you do not want bubbles). Pour the mixture into the four pastry cases and bake for 35 minutes until just set. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 3 – 4 hours.

Once cool, remove tarts from cases and arrange tangelo segments on top in a fan like shape. In a saucepan over low heat, stir caster suger, water and tangelo rind until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and boil without stirring for about 3 minutes, until the sugar starts to change colour. Remove from heat immediately and drizzle over the tangelo segments. Serve.