A touch of fresh orange zest adds welcome brightness in this tartlet’s bittersweet chocolate ganache filling, whose heavy cream is steeped with a lemon and orange–flavored Earl Grey black tea. Pictured with our Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes and Pistachio Éclairs.
Citrus–Earl Grey Ganache Tartlets
Serves: 14
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup plus 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, divided
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- ½ tablespoon fresh orange zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup superfine, blanched almond flour
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 (4-ounce) bars premium bittersweet baking chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 6 teabags lemon and orange–flavored Earl Grey black tea*
- Garnish: Candied Orange Peel Curls (recipe follows)
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with a mixer at low speed until smooth, approximately 1 minute. Beat in ⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar until combined, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl. Beat in egg yolk until incorporated. Beat in orange zest and vanilla extract until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, almond flour, salt, and remaining 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar. With mixer at low speed, add to butter mixture in 2 portions, beating just until combined after each addition. Shape dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Spray 14 (2 ½x¾-inch) round tartlet pans with baking spray with flour.
- Divide dough into 14 portions. Transfer dough to prepared pans, gently pressing into bottoms and up sides until smooth and even. Using wide end of a chopstick, gently press dough into indentations in sides of pans. Trim excess dough. Place tartlet pans on prepared baking sheet. Freeze for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Using a fork, prick bottom of each tartlet shell 4 times. Top each tartlet shell with a piece of parchment paper or a plain standard-size cupcake liner, letting ends extend over edges of tartlet pans. Add pie weights or dried beans.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Carefully remove weights and paper.
- Bake again until tartlet shells are light golden brown around edges, 8 to 10 minutes more. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
- Place chopped chocolate in a small heatproof bowl.
- In a small saucepan, heat cream over medium heat until bubbles form around edge of pan and cream is steaming. Remove pan from heat. Add teabags, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes. Remove and discard tea bags. Return cream to medium heat and heat until bubbles form around edge of pan and cream is steaming. Carefully pour cream over chocolate and let sit for 1 minute. Stir until chocolate ganache is smooth. Let cool slightly at room temperature, approximately 10 minutes.
- Gently remove tartlet shells from pans, and spoon ganache into shells. (If ganache is too thick, gently stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons warm heavy whipping cream until desired consistency is achieved.) With tartlets on the countertop, gently shake tartlets side to side to smooth tops. Refrigerate until ganache reaches desired consistency, approximately 1 hour.
- Garnish with Candied Orange Peel Curls before serving, if desired.
Notes
*We used Twinings’ Lady Grey® Black Tea.
Candied Orange Peel Curls
Serves: approximately 2 (10-inch) lengths
Ingredients
- 1 large orange
- 1 cup water
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
Instructions
- Using a channel knife, cut long strips of peel from orange.
- In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar just to a simmer over medium-high heat, whisking to dissolve sugar. Add orange peel, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Using tongs, remove orange peel from syrup mixture. Lay flat on a wire cooling rack. Let stand over- night to dry.
- The next day, wind orange peel around a drinking straw to curl. Store in a covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Just before using as garnish, snip into desired lengths with kitchen shears. Toss curls in remaining ¼ cup sugar, if desired.
