Roasted Clementine Tart

In the Sweet Kitchen is one of those books that everybody should have in their kitchen.  We are going to a friends house tonight for dinner and said I'd bring dessert. I got this recipe out of In the Sweet Kitchen.  As the tag line says on the book, the definitive baker's companion.  It is.

Fred loves the chocolate orange thing so I went with it.  Roasted Clementine and Chocolate Tart with a Macadamia Nut Crust.  Sounds hard but it is really easy.  Just a matter of the steps and time.  I made the clementine part yesterday afternoon.

10 medium sized clementine oranges, sliced crosswise into very thin rounds.  I actually made an entire box because they are delicious to eat plain.

1 cup fresh OJ ( I used 2 cups because I made a whole box )
2 Tbsp Grand Marnier
3 Tbsp Dark brown sugar + 1/2 cup dark brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 325.  Place the sliced clementines in a glass baking dish (9 X 13 - I used 2).  Lay the slices overlapping and pour the OJ/Grand Marnier over the slices.  Then take the tbsp of dark brown sugar and sprinkle over the top.  Cover the dish with tin foil and bake in the oven for about a hour.  Once the rinds are soft and you can slip the tip of a sharp knife in to them easily. 

Increase the temperature to 375.  Take off the tin foil and sprinkle with the rest of the dark brown sugar.  Put back in the oven and bake until the liquid is syrupy and the clementines begin to caramelize.  About 30 minutes. 

Then cool.  I let them cool and then put them in a plastic Tupperware, with the syrup, and put in the refrigerator to make the pie today.

1 (10 1/2 or 11 inch) nut tart shell.  If you don't do nuts you could make a different crust.

3/4 cup macadamia nut
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cut into pieces unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk

Combine the nut and sugar in a food processor.  Don't over do it.  Once the nuts are chopped, stop.  Then add the flour and pulse once or twice to combine.   Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like there are big peas in it.  Don't over mix.  Then add the egg yolk and pulse once or twice until completely combined.

In a removable bottom tart tin, press the flour mixture evenly through out and up the sides. Cover in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for four hours or more.

Preheat the oven at 375. Prick the bottom of the pie with a fork.  It is very delicate so just give a few little pokes. I was actually afraid the crust would fall apart so I didn't do much poking.  Lay parchment paper or tin foil over the top of the tart and fill with pie weights or old rice.  Then bake for 15-18 minutes.  Make sure the ends are beginning to brown.  Then take off the weights and keep in the oven for another 10 minutes or until the shell is browned.  Let cool

Chocolate ganache

8 ounces of bitter sweet chocolate chopped up
1 cup of heavy cream.

Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Warm the cream to simmer. Pour the cream over the chocolate and use a whisk to make creamy.  Let cool but make sure the consistency is like a frosting, easy to spread before putting it in the tart.

Once the tart is cooled, spread the chocolate evenly in the shell. Then layer the clementines over each other in a circular pattern until done.  I did it once and thought I could use more and went back and gently layered some more in.  Use the liquid left over and brush over the top.  I found the clementines to be pretty liquidy because they had sat in the liquid overnight so I didn't need to brush more over the top.

Voila.  Delicious!!