Orange Tart

I have been intrigued by pies, ever since I encountered them in the books I used to read. The first of them would be Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was never tired of reading it, for that entirely different world that it showcased to me.

I managed to finally eat a pie when I was in US in my 20's. It was an apple pie. Homemade, it was delicious. But I was not interested in the mechanics of making it at that time. Or the nomenclature for that matter. I have eaten many since then in McDonald's & Corner House, etc. But never a homemade one again. And it never met my expectations.

Now I know the difference between a pie and a tart. I know how they are made. I read up on most of the things online. BUT I have never made one at home. I was terribly scared of rolling out the crust, lining the pan, and then also about the filling. What if it is too soggy, what if it is too runny, what if the thing never came out of the pan. Finally, I dared and made one. It was easy. It took a lot of time, more than to make a cake, but more of it was resting time than actually hands on work. I baked it in a glass dish. It flowed out of the pan even though I didnt have a removable base pan. I was so pessimistic about the result that I didnt even take pictures of my crust or filling.

The mandarin orange season here is in its peak. Oranges everywhere. And I have more on my hand than that can be eaten in a week or two. Eating two-three per day also will not be enough to get them over with. So I usually bake a cake or juice them up and finish them. This time I wanted to be adventurous and chose Orangenkuchen recipe from Backen. It was straightforward and didnt ask for fancy ingredients. Though I substituted the bread crumbs with cracker crumbs gone soft.

Orangenkuchen (Orange Tart)
(Makes a 6 inch tart)

For the Crust:
75g Whole Wheat Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
60g Butter, cut in small pieces
1 tbsp Water

For the Filling:
Zest of an Orange
5 tbsp Orange Juice
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
75g Cream
25g Fresh Breadcrumbs/Cracker Crumbs
25g Butter
25g Sugar
1 Egg, separated
1 pinch, Salt

• Mix Flour and Sugar together. Add butter in small pieces to the flour mixture. Rub with fingers till all of it is incorporated and add the water to make a soft dough.
• Fold the dough with plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 30 min.
• Press the dough on to a 6 inch springform pan/pie pan/tart pan uniformly. Poke with a fork all over to stop it from rising during baking.
• Rest in the refrigerator again for another 30 min.
• Blind bake the crust for 20 min at 180 C. Remove the baking beans and bake for another 20 min.
• Meanwhile prepare the filling. Mix the orange juice, orange zest, lemon juice, cream and the breadcrumbs together.
• Heat the butter and sugar in a pan on the stove on a low flame carefully, till the sugar melts.
• After removing from the stove, add the yolk, 1/2 pinch salt and Cream mixture.
• Beat the egg white with the remaining salt until foamy and mix into the filling.
• Pour the filling into the baked crust and bake at 160 C for 50-55 min till the filling seems set.
• Cool the tart briefly. Serve warm.

Note: The egg can be replaced with a mixture of 4-5 tbsp milk with a tbsp Cornstarch and added to the filling mixture.