The Best Classic French Orange Tart Recipe – Tarte a l’orange
This Classic French Orange Tart recipe is the perfect dessert a hot summer day. It is bursting with fresh citrus flavor, which pairs perfectly with the buttery pâte sucrée crust. This orange tart is similar to its cousin, the French Lemon Tart (Tarte au citron). But, it is slightly sweeter, and has a very distinct orange flavor.
Incorporating fresh orange juice and orange zest into the orange filling gives this tart a really nice orange flavor, that is totally natural and noticeably fresh.
What Type Of Oranges Should You Use?
Try to choose oranges that are all uniform in size. This helps with even cooking throughout, and it also looks nice to have all of the orange slices the same size when garnishing the top of the orange tart.
I used navel oranges. Navel oranges are really juicy and tasty. I have found that when slicing navel oranges, sometimes the pattern of the orange slice is distorted by the presence of the navel. You can work around it by slicing closer to the middle of the oranges. You can save the ends for making an infused water, candied orange rinds or an orange simple syrup.
Blood oranges are also a good choice for this pie. You will find that it will change the look of your pie slightly because the slices of blood orange will be darker in color. But, blood oranges are really delicious, and you won’t have that navel to work around.
How Should You Slice The Oranges?
I used a very sharp paring knife to slice my oranges. You can also use a mandoline, if you are unsure of your slicing skills. Depending on the sharpness of your blade, this could prove to be tricky.
My mandoline blade was not sharp enough, and ended up macerating the orange as I attempted to slice them. So, I found that using a pairing knife was better. Make your orange slices about 1/8 inch thick. This gives them enough strength to not fall apart in the simple syrup bath, yet it is thin enough to allow them to cook through, and become tender while baking.
Preparing The Orange Slices For Use
The orange slices are going to be placed on top of the orange tart after it is baked. For this reason, it is best to cook them separately in a simple syrup mixture. This is the same process that is used to make “candied” orange slices.
Mix even amounts of water and sugar in small sauce pan, and bring to a simmer. Then, place the orange slices into the the sauce pan, ensuring that all of them are completely submerged. Simmer the orange slices on low heat for approximately thirty minutes. At the end of thirty minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the orange slices, and place them onto a baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper. Allow them to dry while preparing the tart.
Making The Orange Filling
The orange filling is pretty simple to make. In a mixing bowl, combine egg yolks with sugar and unsalted butter to make the base of the mixture. Adding orange zest as well as orange juice to the egg mixture give it a nice bold orange flavor. That’s all there is to it!
Tart crust
The tart crust is made from a pâte sucrée. Pâte sucrée is a sweet shortcrust pastry that is very commonly used when making french pastries. It makes buttery crust that is very versatile, and pairs well with nearly any fresh fruit recipe.
For this recipe, the tart crust is par-baked. This means that it is partially baked in the oven before adding the creamy orange filling. When par-baking, or fully baking a tart shell with no filling, it is important to chill the dough before and after it is placed in the tart tin. Chilling the pastry dough before using a rolling pin to roll it out will make it easier to handle when filling the tart in.
You should also chill the tart dough after placing it in the tart tin. Once the pastry dough is rolled out, transfer it to a tart tin. At this point, place the whole thing (dough and tin) in the freezer for 15 minutes prior to baking. This is important because it will prevent the tart crust from shrinking during the baking process.
Par-baking The Tart Crust
When par baking, you can use one of two methods to prevent the tart crust from puffing up. You can either prick the bottom of the unbaked tart crust with a fork, which is called “docking,” or you can place a piece of parchment paper on the unbaked crust and use pie weights or you can use dry beans as a weight.
If you choose pie weights or dry beans, crumble up the piece of parchment paper and then open it back up before placing it on the unbaked tart crust. This keeps the pie weights from rolling around, and makes it easier to remove it when it is time.
I like to use a tart pan with a removable bottom. This makes removing the tart a breeze when the time comes.
Putting It All Together
Once the tart crust is partially baked, pour the orange filling into it. Then, place the tart back into the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes. The tart is ready when the top surface turns golden brown. Remove the tart from the oven, and place it on a cooling rack. Arrange the candied orange slices on top of the tart to make a decorative display. Allow the tart to come to room temperature before cutting and serving.
Classic French Orange Tart Recipe
Equipment
- 1 small sauce pan
- 1 9 – 10 inch tart tin
- 2 mixing bowls
- 1 mandoline optional
- 1 zester
- 1 Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Pâte Sucrée tart crust
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar granulated sugar can be substituted, but will change the texture of the crust
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Orange tart filling
- 4 eggs
- 3 oranges
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Sliced Oranges for Garnish – Optional
- 3 oranges, sliced into 1/8" slices
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups water
Instructions
Pâte Sucrée
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt.
- Add the cubes of cold butter to the flour mixture. Using your hands, toss the cubes of butter in the flour mixture until they are coated.
- Working quickly as to not allow the butter to melt, press the flour and butter mixture between the fingertips of your thumbs, index, and middle fingers. Continue to press the mixture with your fingertips until the it resembles a grainy mixture. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks, and heavy cream together.
- Drizzle the egg mixture over the flour and butter mixture, and use a fork to toss the mixture until no dry ingredients are visible. Be careful to not overwork the dough.
- Divide the dough into two parts, and shape each into a disk. Wrap them in plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator for at least one hour to chill.
Orange Slices for Garnish – Optional
- Using a sharp paring knife or mandoline, slice the oranges into 1/8" slices.
- Place 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water into a small saucepan. Simmer over low to medium heat, until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Place the orange slices into the simmering syrup, and ensure that the slices are completely submerged.
- Simmer the orange slices for 30 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the orange slices from the syrup mixture, and place them on a baking sheet line with parchment paper to dry. Allow them to dry while preparing the orange filling, and baking the tart.
Par-baking The Tart Crust
- Remove the Pâte Sucrée dough from the refrigerator, and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out to a large enough circle to fill the tart tin, plus 1-2 inches for the sides (eg. a 9 inch tart tin would need a 12-13 inch circle).
- Using your rolling pin, wrap the dough around the rolling pin and gently transfer to the tart tin. Press the dough into the tart tin and up the sides. Use your rolling pin to roll over the edges of the tart tin to remove any excess dough. If the dough tears, simply use the excess to do a little patchwork.
- Place the tin and dough into the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- After the dough and tart tin have chilled for 15 minutes, remove them from the refrigerator, and use a fork to poke holes on the bottom surface of the unbaked tart dough.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
Orange Filling
- While the tart crust is baking, prepare the orange filling by first washing and drying the oranges.
- Zest 3 of the oranges.
- Place the zest in a medium sized bowl and add the cornstarch. Toss together until the zest is fully coated.
- Juice 2 of the zested oranges, and add the orange juice to the orange zest and cornstarch mixture. Mix together with a fork.
- In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs, and add the powdered sugar. Continue to beat the egg and sugar mixture with a whisk until it becomes light yellow in color.
- Add the softened butter to the egg and sugar mixture, and mix until fully incorporated.
- Add the egg mixture to the bowl with zest and orange juice. Mix until incorporated.
- Pour the orange filling into the partially baked tart crust.
- Place the tart in preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.
- The tart is ready when the top of the tart is golden brown in color.
- Place the tart on a cooling rack, and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes before removing from the tin. Allow it to cool completely on the cooling rack prior to serving. It can be served at room temperature or chilled.
Shelf Life Of The Classic French Orange Tart
The Orange tart will keep up to three days in the refrigerator. It can be stored in an airtight container. Alternatively, simply place a piece of plastic wrap over the tart before storing in the refrigerator to prevent it from drying out.
Serving Suggestions
This classic French Orange Tart is best served at room temperature. It would go well with a small glass of Grand Marnier or Cointreau. A dollop of homemade whipped cream (chnatilly) would also taste amazing. As with and other classic french dessert, it would be great for afternoon Gouter.
Other Classic Tarts
If you like this recipe, try my other classic tart recipes:
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The directions are not correct.
The ingredients list does not match to the directions
Thanks so much for letting me know, Marsha! Egg quantity updated. 🙂