This orange honey mascarpone tart is just simply amazing. I used Thomas Keller’s pate sucree from the best selling Bouchon Bakery cookbook , which was a bit of work, but creates two shells. You can freeze the additional dough for use at a different time. Alternatively, you can just as easily purchase a pre-made tart shell and fill it with this simple mixture of mascarpone cheese, honey, orange zest and almond extract. Though there is a lot of “wait time” in this recipe for the tart shell to be made, cooked and cooled, the filling itself was relatively easy to prepare and the result was downright decadent. This a wonderfully impressive make-ahead dessert, as beautiful to look at as it is to eat. This one, I promise you, will not disappoint.
Orange Honey Mascarpone Tart
Ingredients
- 375 grams all purpose flour
- 46 grams powdered sugar
- 94 grams powdered sugar
- 47 grams almond flour
- 225 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 56 grams eggs (about 1 large egg)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- zest from 1 orange
- 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, melted
- sliced almonds
- orange slices
Thomas Keller’s Pate Sucree
For the Filling:
-2 8 oz packages mascarpone cheese
To Garnish:
Directions
To make the Tart Shell (Pate Sucree)
- Sift together the flour and 46 grams of powdered sugar and almond flour into a large bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter. You are looking for the consistency of the of the butter to be like mayonnaise when the paddle is lifted. If necessary, warm the bowl by holding it over a burner on the stove to achieve this consistency.
- Sift the 94 grams of powdered sugar into the bowl and mix for about 1 minute until the mixture is fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and scrape in the vanilla seeds. Mix to incorporate everything together, about 30 seconds.
- Add the dry ingredients in two additions and mix until incorporated. Turn the dough onto a work surface and use the heel of your hand to work the dough together. Split into two equal portions. Shape each into a disc, about an inch thick, and wrap tightly in saran wrap.
- Refrigerate until firm, for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- When the dough is firm, remove one disk from the refrigerator and freeze the other. Remove it from the plastic wrap and onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 of a inch thick, continually rotating and flipping the dough so it doesn’t stick to the work surface.
- Using a tart form with a removable bottom, place the dough into the form, pressing down gently with your palms. Press the dough up the sides of the form and use your rolling pin to remove the excess dough by rolling over the top gently. Place the tart shell on a large baking sheet.
- Crumple a large piece of parchment paper and uncrumple, laying it on top of the dough and gently pressing it in so that it cover the edges (this will prevent it from burning). Pour dried beans or rice on top of the parchment paper to weight it down, and bake for 20 minutes, rotate and bake an additional 20 minutes. Let cool completely before filling.
For the Filling:
- Place the mascarpone cheese into a large bowl or base of a stand mixer and add honey, almond extract and orange zest. Using electric beaters or the paddle attachment, beat the mixture until smooth.
- Scoop the mixture into the cooled tart shell and use an offset spatula to spread it evenly in the shell. Chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.
- Melt the chocolate chips and transfer the melted chocolate to a plastic bag or pastry bag. Sip the bottom of the bag to create a very small opening and drizzle the chocolate over the tart. Garnish with almond and orange slices. Serve chilled.
