Cinnamon Caramel Crumble, Fresh out of the oven.

Recently I had seen a post somewhere about the book: “Small Sweet Treats: Sassy, Savory and Sweet” by Marguerite Henderson.  Following the link to amazon, I found that the book has a nice preview. Always a sucker for a good preview, I got to looking around in the book and came across this recipe for Cinnamon Caramel Crumble.  It sounded divine. This book looks to be a keeper and certainly will go on my wish/want list. Go take a peek. Find my notes for this recipe at the bottom of the post.

Cinnamon Caramel Crumble

Slightly adapted by: Small Sweet Treats: Sassy, Savory, & Sweet

By: Marguerite Henderson

This crumble captures the flavors of an Autumn day at the farmstand- apples and pears baked with citrus and caramely brown sugar and topped with a crumbly cinnamon layer.  It’s a perfect fall confection craving satisfaction. Marguerite Henderson.

4 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored & thinly sliced

2 D’ Anjou Pears, peeled, cored & thinly sliced

Juice & Zest of 1 Lemon

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

3 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, cut in pieces

2 Tbsp. Cornstarch

1 tsp. Salt

Crumble Topping:

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1 Cup Quick Cooing Oats (I used Granola)

4 Tbsp. Unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 cup Chopped Walnuts (Personal preference, I left this out)

1/4  Cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

Raisins, Optional (I added these, per request from my hubby)

Vanilla Ice or Whipped Cream

Directions:

Combine the apples, pears, lemon juice, zest, sugar, butter, cornstarch, and salt (and raisins if you’re adding these) in a bowl and mix well; transfer to eight individual baking dishes or 1 cup ramekins.  In a bowl, combine all topping ingredients except the ice cream and crumble with your hands or a pastry cutter to make sure it is well mixed.  Spoon crumble evenly over the apples in the ramekins.  Set ramekins on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375 degree F. oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until bubbly and golden brown.  Serve topped with vanilla ice cream or shipped cream.

Notes:  This dessert is so quick & easy to put together. Tasty too.  I thought, it had a little too much lemon, and I will cut back on that next time, probably omitting the zest to allow for more of the apple flavor then the lemon. This is just a personal preference. Overall, this dessert was delicious and I would definitely make this again.  Vanilla Ice Cream is mandatory! (Grin)

What a busy, busy, September, (daughter and niece got married), October, November, December and most of this January has been for me! Please forgive me as this blog has been put on the back burner as life had taken over.  And even in all that hustle, bustle, bake-a-thon that went on here, I have only a few pictures to account for it. Sad, I know.  Anyways, I wanted to post and let you know that I have not abandoned my blog here, and I will be back, with excitement, baked goodies and a  burning desire to share it with all of you.

A favorite recipe that I had come across in the Holiday season is a cookie recipe, that quite frankly has replaced MOST of my sugar cookie recipes. Unless requested, this is the cookie dough that I make almost every time now.  This recipe has nutmeg in it, so you if have anyone with nut allergies, leave it out and continue with the recipe. Once you try this, you may not go back to regular sugar cookies. The recipe comes from a Red book magazine.

My daughter's wedding test picture

Sweet & Spicy Cookies (Snowflakes)

Slightly adapted From: Redbook

Active time: 20 minutes

Total time: 1 hour plus cooling

Makes about 54 cookies

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cups eggs

Another Test picture for my daughter's wedding - Miette Style

Directions:

1.  In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, cloves, and nutmeg.  In a large bowl, beat butter, shortening and sugars until creamy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.  With mixer on low-speed, beat in flour mixture, half at a time, until blended.  Divide dough into thirds; wrap in plastic wrap and press into a disk shape.  Refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 2 hours.  (I skip this process, as you can roll these without them being refrigerated.)

2.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease several large baking sheets.  Roll 1 piece of dough  at a time, on lightly floured surface with floured rolling-pin, to scant 1/4 inch thickness.  With 3 to 4 inch snowflake (or any desired cookie cutter), cut out cookies.

My beautiful niece & husband cutting their cheesecake

Cookies, my sister in law and I did for Grand kids to take to school!

3.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned at edges.  Cool on wire racks.

Note:

If you’d like to make the snowflake cookies, you will need a straw, royal icing, coarse sanding sugar, silver dragees, and ribbon.  When cutting out the cookie dough, use a straw to make a hole in the top of the snowflake.  Bake as directed.  Decorate snowflake with royal icing, sanding sugar and silver dragees.  When cookies are dry, run a ribbon through the hole at the top of the cookie.  Makes beautiful tree decorations.

So there you have it.  Some of my baking escapades these past months. I wish I had pictures of everything I had made, the blog wouldn’t have been neglected  this long. Such is life. I’ll be seeing you soon!

My daughter, sister-in-law and I made these coffee cakes for the holidays. I’ll be posting the recipe soon!  (Look for Nanna’s Old World Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake Recipe! It is a delicious coffee cake.)

Holiday Coffee Cakes

I went to my sister in law’s to make coffee cakes. She surprised me with this wonderful, delicious Lemon Poppy Seed Cake.  She had told me about this cake and how good it was, but until you actually get to sample it, the description, even though explained well, just doesn’t do it justice.  If you like lemon cake, give this Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake a try. It does NOT disappoint!  I could not get away with just one slice. Yeah, this cake kinda does that to you.

Cowgirl’s Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake

From: My sister-in-law – Carol (We don’t know what cookbook it came out of, were trying to track it down)

3 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 Cups Sugar

1/4 Cup Poppy Seeds

2 Sticks Butter, softened to room temperature. (My sister-in-law uses  butter flavored shortening with amazing results)

1 Cup Buttermilk

4 Eggs

1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

4 tsp. Grated Fresh Lemon Rind

1/2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

Glaze:

1 Cup Confectioner’s Sugar

1 to 2 Tbsp. Fresh Lemon Juice

Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all cake ingredients.  Beat on low-speed, scraping bowl often, until all ingredients are moistened.  Beat on high-speed, scraping bowl often, until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes.  Pour into greased and floured 12 cup bundt pan or 10 inch tube pan.  Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 and remove from pan.  Cool completely.

Glaze Directions:

In a small bowl, stir confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice until smooth.  Drizzle over cake.

I came across a Pear Upside down Cake, and it looked delicious!  Pears are one of my favorite fruits.  This cake is moist, chocolaty, and the caramel puts it over the top! If you like pears, give this one a try.

Upside-Down Pear Chocolate Cake
Slightly adapted From: Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More

Makes One 9-inch Cake

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature, for pan

Fruit Topping:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup Water
3 firm but ripe pears, peeled, cored, and each cut into 12 slices

Cake:
¼ cup unsalted butter
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup Buttermilk milk

Directions:

1. Butter a 9-inch round baking pan. (Do not use a spring-form pan, the caramel will seep out.)
2. To make the fruit topping, put the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan (one with a tight-fitting lid) and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then cover and cook for 2 minutes. (This way allows the steam to wash down the sides of the pan, which will prevent any sugar crystals from forming.)
3. Uncover the saucepan and continue to boil the sugar, gently and slowly swirling the pan as needed to cook the caramel evenly, until it becomes a dark amber color, about 13 to 15 minutes. Occasionally wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water.
4. Carefully pour the caramel into the prepared pan and allow it to harden. Fan the pear slices on top of the caramel in a circle around the perimeter, filling in the center with the remaining slices.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. To make the cake, place the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat and melt, stirring occasionally.
7. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl, set aside. Transfer the melted chocolate to a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and add the sugar.
8. Using a handheld mixer with beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
9. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
10. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake bounces back slightly when touched. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a plate, leaving the pan on top of the cake for 5 minutes before you remove it. Serve the cake warm, topped with a small dollop of Chantilly cream or a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. This taste great as is too!

Storage: Wrapped in plastic wrap, the cake will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days. (If it lasts that long!!)

Every year my little Grandson (David) has a request for his birthday cake.  This year he turns 4 and he had a hard time picking between Power Rangers and Sponge Bob. So, to make my little man Grandson happy, we decided on a Power Rangers Birthday cake and Sponge Bob and Patrick Cookies. (Which by the way, the cookie cutters for Sponge Bob and Patrick are available here, at Karen’s Cookies.  Look for Thomas the Train, Hello Kitty, Sesame Street, and I also know that Mickey Mouse is available at Copper Gifts.  Although, out of stock at the moment.)

My Grand kids had fun helping decorate the cookies.  My daughter Barb, (David’s Mom) as always, did a fantastic job on the Birthday party. The kids had so much fun and got to do Trick or Treating after the party. She lives in Howell and they had The Legend of Sleepy Howell weekend, with trick or treating in downtown Howell sponsored by downtown businesses. Here they are all dressed up.

Does your hometown do special events and trick or treating where you live?

You know it’s rare to find a cookbook that inspires you to want to make every recipe in it!   The recipes are simple, easy to follow, with most ingredients readily available at your local market, producing spectacular results.  (Sources are listed for the few ingredients that might require a specialty store.) Beautifully photographed, well written, and inspiring, this book will turn you into an Italian Dessert Guru:  Dolci:  Italy’s sweets by Francine Segan.

Francine Segan is an acclaimed food historian and author of four cookbooks, read more about her here.   In Dolci: Italy’s Sweets, Segan introduces us to the real Italy.  None of the recipes in this book are actually hers.  She gathered recipes from all corners of Italy.  Her recipes come from hip young food bloggers, grandmas in remote villages, from important Italian pastry manufactures and pastry chefs at small cafes. From thousands of recipes, she has selected the very best – a list that includes both the classics and desserts that contemporary Italians prepare in their homes today.

Chapters Include; Cookies & Bite sized sweets, Cakes & Sweet Breads, Refrigerator Cakes, Pies, Freezer Desserts, Spoon Sweets, Weird & Wonderful, unique & Unusual Desserts, Holiday Traditions, After Dinner Beverages, and last but not least; Basics.

While the book is beautifully photographed, the down side is the number of pictures.  There is not a lot of pictures, and for most of the recipes you’ll have to make it to find out what the finished product looks like.  I personally do not find this a deterrent. While I love to see more pictures in a book as most of us are visual, the book will still inspire you to make the contents within. With or without pictures.

Chocolate & Jam “Little Mouthfuls”

Filled with chocolate, ground almonds, and grape jam, these tiny, two-bite pies have an intriguing combination of flavors.  If the idea of making pie crust seems daunting, you’ll love this recipe.  Unlike most dough for pies and tarts, this one doesn’t require rolling or chilling and is just pressed into molds.  Made with olive oil, not butter, these mini pies are healthy as well as tasty.   Like so many dish in Italy, bocconotti vary from region to region.  This recipe is from Abruzzo, where they are filled with either a cooked reduced dessert wine called “Vin Cotto” or with a jam made from the local exquisite Montelpuciano grapes.  In Calabria, they are filled instead with just marmalade, and in the Lazio region, with sweetened ricotta. – Francine Segan

From: Dolci: Italy’s Sweets

Bocconotti

Makes about 3 Dozen

Region: Abruzzo, Calabria, and Lazio

6 Large Egg Yolks

1/2 Cup (100g) Sugar

1/2 Cup (120 ml) Olive or other Vegetable Oil

1/2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

Grated Zest of 1 Lemon

1 7/8 Cup (225g) All Purpose Flour

3/4 Cup (180ml) Grape Jam

1/3 Cup (45g) Almond flour or very finely ground blanched almonds

2 oz. (55g) Dark Chocolate, grated on a cheese grater

Pinch of Ground Cinnamon

(click pictures for another view.)

Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F. (180 Degrees C.)  In a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar and beat with an electric mixer until golden-yellow and creamy.  Add the oil, vanilla, and half of the lemon zest and beat until combined. Gradually add the flour, mixing until a dough forms. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, combine the jam, almond flour, chocolate, cinnamon, and remaining lemon zest and stir until well combined.

Lightly oil 36 mini muffin cups or 2 inch (5 centimeters) tart molds.  Press about 1 rounded tablespoon of the dough into the bottom of each mold.  Top with a heaping tablespoon of the jam mixture.  Take another tablespoon of the dough and press it flat with your palms.  Top the filling with the disk of dough and press it flat with your palms.  Top the filling with the disk of dough and press it into the edges of the mold to seal  Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

Verdict:  These little tarts are delicious. Easy and fun to make, they come together fast. The best part?  Eating them!   If you have the time, homemade jam would be best here.  If not, store-bought works just as well.  I see no reason these couldn’t be made in whatever flavor jam you might like.  I also plan on making them with the sweetened ricotta filling.

This beautiful, high quality, inspiring cookbook will attract all dessert lovers, especially, with its simplicity of the recipes, and in the ease of obtaining such spectacular results. This is a book that I will reach for over and over.  Recommended?  Highly! This book will not disappoint.

Full Disclosure:  I was given this book in exchange for a review.  The above review is my honest opinion of this book and the contents within.

Recently I was sent Yvette Van Boven’s New cookbook “Home Made The Ultimate DIY Cookbook, featuring over 200 From – Scratch Recipes”, in exchange for a review.  Does this book deliver?  Oh, yeah and then some!

This book has everything in it!  Not only does it have everything in it, but it’s also a beautifully photographed, Do it yourself, wonder.   From Making Jam, Bread, Ginger Coffee, Teas, Cocktails & Liqueurs, Soups, Preserving Fruits, Preserving Meat & Fish, Gnocchi, pastas, Smoking foods, Roast it, On the side, Cheese Making, to making homemade, DIY, Ice creams, Sorbets and Semifreddo’s, Desserts with eggs including Zabaglioni, custard, fondant, pavlova, tarts, and everything in between.  Making chocolates, marzipan, shortbread’s, cookies, and truffles.  A chapter with making mustard’s, ketchup, mayonnaise and barbecue sauce and there’s even a chapter to cover man’s best friend, our four-legged companions, “Do not forget the Dog”.

For my recipe, I decided (and it was a hard choice, out of all these delectable recipes) on Parisian Apple Tartlets.  These were some of the best Apple tarts I have ever tasted. And the recipe is user-friendly and easy to follow.

Parisian Apple Tartlets

From: Homemade – by Yvette Van Boven

For 6 individual tartlet bases:

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 1/4 sticks chilled Butter

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp. Cinnamon

Pinch of Salt

For the Filling:

3 Tart Cooking Apples, with red skin

1/3 Cup Superfine Sugar (Regular sugar works just fine here)

2 Tbsp. All Purpose Flour

2 Eggs

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream

Seeds from 1 Vanilla Bean

Mix of 1 Tbsp. Sugar & 1/2 Tbsp. Cinnamon

2/3 Cup Apricot Jam

2-3 Tbsp. Calvados

6 Tbsp. Creme Fraiche

Directions:

Combine the tartlet base ingredients swiftly into an even dough. This is easiest in a food processor.  Use a few drops of ice-cold water if necessary. (I did end up using 1 Tbsp. of Ice water)

Leave the dough to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.  Then roll out the dough on a countertop dusted with flour and use to cover 6 well buttered individual pie dishes.  Prick the bottoms with a fork.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/Gas 4.

Blind bake the tartlet bases for 10 minutes (If you are making a large pie, say 9 inch diameter, bake a little longer, i.e. 15 to 20 minutes).

Quarter the apples, remove the cores, but not the attractive peel. (I peeled mine, I have tart green apples, and I don’t like the skin of the apple!, I know – Shame!) Cut the sections into very thin slices. Stir the sugar through the flour. Stir in the eggs to make a nice paste.  Heat the cream, vanilla, and bean, bring to the boil and then remove from the heat.  Remove the bean, and add the hot cream to the flour-egg paste, while stirring.  Pour that cream into the prebaked pie crusts and cover with the overlapping apple slices.  Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mix.

Bake the tartlets in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes (a larger version will be done in approx. 25 minute).  Leave to slightly cool.

Heat the apricot jam in a pan.  Dilute with a tbsp. of Calvados or water.  Press the jam through a strainer over a bowl and spread the collected apricot jelly on the tartlets.  Serve the tartlets with a tablespoon of unsweetened good quality creme fraiche.

Makes 6 individual tartlets.

This is one of those books that you will reach for time, and time, again.  An encyclopedia of Do it yourself treasures that has everything in it that you can imagine, and always wondered about how to do.  The quality of the book is first-rate, the pages nice and thick, not at all flimsy, and a nice touch that I really liked, 2 ribbons attached to the book to mark your place.  (Although, you’ll need many more book markers, to save the recipes you’ll want to try.)

For my recipe, I chose their delicious French Almond Cakes,  (Financiers as they are known in France) (pronounced fee-nahng-syehr) to create my dessert with.  These are delicious little almond cakes that are absolutely delicious on their own. Read about them here.

I chose to create very simple, easy to make miniature tarts.  Miniature tarts are easy desserts to use anytime of the year, for any occasion, and you don’t have to feel guilty for eating more than one. Or, if you watching what your eating, it’s doable even on a strict diet, that is IF you can eat just one.  I am not able to.  These little desserts are great.  I served them at a dinner party, and there was not one left.  So easy, so delicious, so versatile.

Donsuemor French Almond Cake Tarts

By Delectable Desserts

10 Donsuemor French Almond Cakes

2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, Melted

Lemon Curd, Blackberry Curd, Jello Chocolate Pudding, or any other type filling or jello pudding (or homemade pudding) you might like.  (I use the same recipe for Lemon Curd & Blackberry Curd, substituting blackberry puree for the lemon juice, and it’s microwaveable.  Strain curds through a fine mesh strainer.)

Raspberries, for Garnish

Mint or Spearmint Leaves, for Garnish

Powdered Sugar, just before serving (Optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Unwrap the Almond cakes and break up in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 5 to 6 times, until you have fine crumbs.  In  a bowl, combine the crumbs and the butter and stir until incorporated. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, make the filling of your choice. (I used Jello Chocolate Pudding (following the directions on the box for pudding), a homemade Lemon curd, and homemade Blackberry Curd. But use any flavor you might like. The sky’s the limit). With a small scoop (I used a small cookie scoop), scoop mixture and form into small balls to fit into mini muffin tins.  Use a tart tamper or other object to form an indent in the  center of the balls.  Bake in the oven at 325 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, or until light golden brown.  Remove from oven. Flip the muffin pan upside down to release the tart shells and leave to cool fully on the counter. (Do not touch shells until completely cool, or they will crumble.)  Once completely cool, spoon or pipe filling into tarts.  Garnish with raspberries and a mint or spearmint leaf if desired.  You could also pipe a little whipped cream on the very top and place the raspberry on that.  I also shook a little powdered sugar over mine, just before serving. (Do not sprinkle with powdered sugar until serving time, as it will melt onto the dessert.)

Yield: 15 tarts. (I doubled my recipe to make 30 miniature tarts.)

Don’t forget to mark your calendar and grab those recipes starting October 1st, 2011

Full Disclosure: I received a free box of French Almond Cakes in exchange for a created recipe.

Inspiration comes in so many places!  All the food blogs out there and the talent within them.  This is one recipe, I just had to try. I used my own favorite chocolate cake recipe, but followed the recipe for the rest, other then adding a few more layers of cake and bavarian cream.  I had a round cake pan with a removable bottom to build my dessert in.  This cake is delicious and well worth the effort invested in it.

Head on over to Foodagraphy for the recipe and some of the most beautiful inspiration out there on the internet!

I am a HUGE Fan of the Baked Cookbooks.  I dare say, and without being insulting that their second book Baked Explorations is even better than their first book.  I am not knocking their fist book, in fact I own both.

Everybody likes creamsicle (at least almost everybody, as I have yet to run across anybody that doesn’t).   This is one recipe that was a must try and it definitely fits the bill to satisfy my sweet tooth as well as the taste buds.

Delicious!

Orange Creamsicle Tart

From: Baked Explorations

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 1/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

Zest and juice of 2 medium lemons (2 Tablespoons of zest and 1/4 cup juice)

Zest of 3 large oranges (3 Tablespoons zest and  1 cup juice)

1 cup Orange Cream Soda

3 Large Eggs

2 Large Egg Yolks

3/4 Cup Sugar

For the Orange Tart Dough:

1/2 cup (1 stick)Unsalted Butter

1/4 cup Sugar

Zest of 1 orange (2 Tablespoons)

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1 Large Egg

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour

For the Orange Whipped Topping:

1 Cup Heavy Cream

2 Tablespoons Sugar

2 Tablespoons Orange Cream Soda

Directions:

Make the Orange Cream Soda Filling:

Place the butter in a large bowl.  Set aside.

In a wide bowl, sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the lemon juice (take care that the gelatin does not clump).

In a medium saucepan, stir together the orange juice and soda.  Bring the liquid to a boil and cook until it is reduced by half, or 1 cup.  Turn the heat to low and whisk to release excess heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon and orange zest, eggs, egg yolks, and sugar and pour the mixture into the saucepan.  Cook over medium low heat, whisking constantly, until a candy thermometer reads 180 degrees F, or the curd easily coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the gelatin mixture.  Whisk until the gelatin is completely combined.  Pour the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve directly onto the butter.  Whisk the mixture furiously until it has increased a bit in volume (the faster you whisk, the more voluminous it will be).  Cover the top  of the curd with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly onto the curd’s surface to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Make the Orange Tart Dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, zest and salt until light and fluffy.  Add the egg, and beat just until incorporated.  Scrape down the bowl, add the flour all at once, and beat just until the dough comes together in a ball.  Do not over beat, or your crust will be hard.

Remove the dough from the bowl, shape it into a disk with your hands, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour.  Use a rolling pin to roll the  dough into a 10 inch circle about 1/4 inch thick.  (Note: The dough will be sticky. Make sure to turn it over with a bench knife or offset spatula as needed to keep the work surface floured.)

Ever so gently, guide the dough, without pulling it, into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom and lightly press it into place.  Roll the rolling pin over the pan to trim off excess.  Place the tart in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line the tart shell with aluminum foil and fill it three-quarters full with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake 15 minutes, then remove the foil and weights and bake for another 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Transfer the tart pan to a wire rack to cool.

Assemble the Tart:

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the curd on high for 5 minutes, then spoon it into the tart and level the filling  with an offset spatula. Refrigerate the tart for 1 hour to set completely.

Make the Orange Whipped Topping:

Pour the cream into a chilled metal bowl and beat it with a chilled whisk for about 1 minute.  Sprinkle the sugar and orange cream soda on top and continue  whisking vigorously until soft peaks form.  (the whipped cream can be made in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment).  Also, if you prefer, you can substitute simple whipped cream for the flavored topping).

To serve, gently push up on the tart bottom to release it from the pan. Top  the tart with orange whipped cream.

The tart tastes best if eaten within 24 hours but can be kept, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

** You could use meringue if you wanted to and toast the top of it or try mini tarts. They make a great, beautiful individual serving.  Anyway you do this tasty tart, it will be a sure hit!