serves
16
prep
1:30 hour
cook
3 hours
difficulty
Ace
serves
16
people
preparation
1:30
hour
cooking
3
hours
difficulty
Ace
level
Ingredients
- 3 blood oranges, segmented
- homemade vanilla ice-cream, to serve
Chocolate pastry
- 125 g butter, at room temperature
- 125 g icing sugar
- 5 g salt
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 250 g (1⅔ cups) plain flour
- 50 g (½ cup) cocoa powder
Hazelnut streusel
- 100 g (⅔ cup) plain flour
- 50 g almond meal (ground almonds)
- 50 g hazelnut meal (ground hazelnuts)
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 75 g (⅓ cup) caster sugar
- 25 g demerara sugar
- 5 g salt
- 50 g skinless (blanched) hazelnuts, chopped
Salted hazelnuts
- 500 ml (2 cups) water
- 20 g coarse salt
- 250 g whole skinless (blanched) hazelnuts
Blood orange confit
- 250 g blood oranges
- 120 g caster sugar
- 100 g blood orange juice
- 25 g glucose syrup
- 1 vanilla bean, split
- 20 g Grand Marnier
Chocolate crémeux
- 270 g dark chocolate (40% cocoa solids) (see Note)
- 230 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) (see Note)
- 200 g milk
- 300 g thickened cream
- 5 g salt
- 150 g (around 3) eggs
Resting time 3 hours
Chilling time overnight
You will need to begin this recipe 1 day ahead.
Instructions
To make the blood orange confit, blanch the oranges in boiling water for 3 minutes, then refresh in iced water. Repeat the process 3 times. Refrigerate overnight. Cut the oranges into 3–4mm thick slices, then cut each slice in half. Place in a saucepan with the sugar, juice, glucose syrup and vanilla bean. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until it reaches 103ºC. Cool slightly, then refrigerate for 1 hour or until cold, then stir in the Grand Marnier. Refrigerate until needed.
To make the chocolate pastry, using an electric mixer, beat the butter, icing sugar and salt until light and creamy. Add the egg and egg yolk, and beat until well combined. Add the flour and beat until just combined. Roll the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick. Using a 24 cm cake ring mould (entremet ring) as a guide, cut out a 24 cm disk, then with the remaining dough cut 3 x 3 cm-wide strips. Place the pastry on a baking tray lined with baking paper and freeze for 2 hours or until firm.
Take the dough out of the freezer. Butter the 24 cm ring, place it on a tray lined with baking paper and place the dough strips around the inside of the ring. Press gently where the ends meet to seal the dough in a perfect cylinder. Trim the disk of dough slightly, perhaps a 2–3 mm border, so that it fits inside the pastry cylinder (don’t worry if you’ve trimmed too much as you can always push the dough so that it meets the edges). Run your finger around the edges to seal the case. Place it back in the freezer until ready to use.
To make the streusel, using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat all the ingredients until it just starts to form a dough. Grate using a box grater and freeze until needed.
Preheat the oven to 150ºC.
To make the salted hazelnuts, place the water and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the hazelnuts, reduce heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes. Drain. Transfer to a baking tray and roast for 20–25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and, using the tip of a small paring knife, break the salted hazelnuts in half.
Increase the oven to 160ºC. Cover tart case with baking paper and fill with baking weights, then bake for 20 minutes. Remove the baking weights and baking paper, and bake for a further 5 minutes or until firm and dry to the touch.
Meanwhile, to make the crémeux, place the chocolate in a large bowl. Place the milk, cream and salt in a saucepan and bring just to the boil over medium heat. Pour the milk mixture over the chocolate in 3 batches, emulsifying with a spatula with each addition. (Try not to incorporate any air.) Add the eggs and stir until smooth.
Reduce the oven to 90ºC. Weigh out 1 kg chocolate crémeux and pour into the tart case when it’s still hot. Bake for 55 minutes or until just set and with a slight jiggle. Allow the tart to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours to firm up.
To make the blood orange compote, place the juice in a saucepan and warm to 40°C over medium heat. Combine the sugar and agar agar in a bowl, then whisk into the juice. Whisking constantly, bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for 4 minutes. Transfer to a plastic container and chill for 1 hour or until set. Once chilled, blitz in a blender until smooth.
Preheat the oven to 155ºC. Bake the streusel for 14–16 minutes or until golden brown.
Fill your sink with hot water and dip your knife in for a few seconds. Wipe the blade clean, making sure the sharp egde isn’t facing your fingers, and slice the tart into sixteen pieces, rinsing and wiping your knife in between each slice. Ideally, keep the slices at room temperature for a few hours before serving.
To serve, smear some compote over each plate, then place a slice of tart on top. You might want to give the tart a quick flash with a blowtorch to make it shiny again. Arrange some blood orange segments around the compote, then a few pieces of streusel and salted hazelnuts. Finally, arrange 3-4 strands of blood orange confit, and place a small quenelle of vanilla ice-cream on some streusel pieces (so that the ice-cream won’t move around).
Note
• For the chocolate crémeux, I used 270 g Valrhona Jivara (40% cocoa solids) and 230 g Valrhona Andoa (70% cocoa solids).
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
