Pretty in Pink: Blood Orange Tart

Can I be honest for a second here?  I just don’t get why everyone makes such a fuss about chocolate desserts.

Sure, chocolate is delicious and wonderful, but there aren’t enough witty fridge magnets in the world to convince me that it’s a) worth killing over, b) a cure-all for PMS or c) better than sex. (A deeply discounted pair of gorgeous shoes, on the other hand? Yeah, all of the above.)

It’s not that I dislike chocolate.  Quite the opposite, really – a good dark chocolate truffle is a pretty fantastic thing indeed.  The problem is, once chocolate grows beyond a two-bite format, it feels kind of obvious. Formulaic. Unsubtle. Maybe even a little boring, after you get past that first couple of bites.

Now, citrus desserts on the other hand, I’m more than willing to make a fuss about.

Citrus is everything chocolate isn’t. Smart. Sassy. A little unpredictable, in that it can play it smooth and sweet, or reach out to smack your tastebuds with a punch of tart acidity. It’s a pretty killer solo act, but it’s just as happy to partner up with a few good friends for a jam session or two. I might not be willing to go so far as premeditated murder for a good citrus dessert, but I wouldn’t rule out a misdemeanor or two.

This tart is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. The filling is pure blood orange, through and through, with a curd that’s got just enough eggs and butter to hold together without blunting the pure orange flavour, and a sweet almond crust that exists solely to deliver that lovely curd to your mouth.

A thin slice is the perfect ending to a heavy meal (like our homemade sausage extravaganza) – sort of like a palate cleanser and a luscious dessert, all rolled up into one pretty coral-pink slice.

Of course, your blood orange tart might turn out to be an entirely different colour, depending on what’s revealed when you slice open your oranges – mine, as you can see, were intensely red inside and yielded a dark cranberry-red juice.

That said, even if your curd only comes out with the faintest pink blush, there’s no reason to worry…. the colour might not a little more timid, but the flavour certainly won’t be.

Who needs chocolate when you can have an eye-pleasing, tongue-teasing dessert like this instead?

(BTW – If you can’t find blood oranges at all, this recipe also works just fine with regular navel oranges, though the curd will be a rather mundane shade of orange instead… or you can substitute with Meyer lemons for an extra-tangy variation.)

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