Sunday, February 22, 2015

Pink Grapefruit Tart


When I saw that the Pink Grapefruit Tart was one of the assignments for Tuesdays With Dorie, I thought I would sit this one out. It seemed like a complicated recipe and I was not a huge fan of grapefruit. I thought it over for half the month and decided that I should give it a try anyway. I'm glad that I changed my mind. This tart turned out to be not only visually stunning, but it tasted great, too!

There were 4 parts to this recipe: 1) the crust; 2) a lemon-almond cream; 3) a grapefruit crémeux, and 4) the grapefruit topping.

I decided to make this recipe over the span of 2 days. On the first day, I made the lemon-almond cream and the grapefruit crémeux.

The lemon-almond cream was definitely the easiest part to make. It just required 5 ingredients, and the only thing that had to be done was combine them together.


That took about 5 minutes.

The next part was the grapefruit crémeux. I had to read over the instructions a few times to feel comfortable with what was about to happen.

 First, I added water to gelatin and set that aside.


Second, I combined the zest of 2 grapefruits with sugar.  This smelled very good!

 After zesting the grapefruits, I juiced the fruits and strained the juice.

I combined the sugar mixture, juice, and eggs in a pan over medium heat and whisked, and whisked, and whisked.

When the mixture reached a certain temperature, I put it into a food processor and added the gelatin and Campari.

 I put the mixture into another bowl and refrigerated it to let it set overnight.

The next part I worked on was the crust. I used Dorie's recipe for Sweet Tart Dough.


When the crust was done, I spread a layer of the lemon-almond cream on top of it.

After that, it was back into the oven.


After the melted lemon-almond cream was cooled, I whisked the crémeux until it was extremely smooth. Note to self: use the stand mixer to do this next time; my arms are still sore from transforming this from a stiff gelatinous mixture to a creamy...crémeux.






I received help with the toppings. I only cut part of 1 grapefruit and enlisted the help of others to finish up.

I had to enlist the help of another with a better eye for design than me to take care of laying out the grapefruit. I think he did a great job!

Overall, I think this was a time-consuming tart, but well-worth all of the work. I think I will make this again for [very] special occasions.


Pink Grapefruit Tart recipe on page 138 and Sweet Tart Dough on page 414 
of Baking Chez Moi.

19 comments:

  1. Looks so professional, good job! I can't wait to dig in!

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  2. It does look professionally done. You did a great job. Save me a slice.

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  3. Absolutely gorgeous. Whoever arranged the grapefruit has a serious eye for design. Now I'm embarrassed to show photos of my finished tart :-) This was an awful lot of work.

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  4. Great job on whipping the cremeux back to creamy! I will definitely follow your tip to use a stand mixer next time. Maybe I'll just scrape it straight into the mixer bowl for chilling to reduce the number of transfers.

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  5. I had exactly the same thoughts as you about this recipe and was totally won over. Your tart looks fabulous.

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  6. Definitely a recipe for special occasions....very time consuming! Yours looks beautiful!

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  7. This is definitely a special occasion tart. Yours is beautiful!

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  8. Gorgeous tart! I love the layout of the grapefruit sections. And yeah, a bit involved, so as delicious as it is, I agree with you that it's a special occasion dessert!

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  9. Your tart is beautiful. I had the same doubts about making this, but like you was so glad I did.

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  10. Gorgeous tart! Definitely special-occasion worthy. Despite the issues you had whipping it, your cremeux has a lovely texture. I used agar agar instead of gelatin so didn't have to contend with that.

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  11. Your process photos are just beautiful! Anyone seeing those would be hands down ahead of the game before embarking on this recipe. Your tart is absolutely perfect as well. Nice to have the surprise of liking something you didn't think you would, especially after all that work.

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  12. Beautiful presentation and so delicious looking.

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  13. So, so pretty! And getting help with the citrus was a wise idea.
    I made this all in one day and wished I spread it out a bit.

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  14. Looks so professional. I agree this was time-consuming and will only be made for very special occasions if I make it again.

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  15. beautiful-- you make it look like it was no trouble at all! :)

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  16. Beautiful tart..love the artfully arranged grapefruit on top as well as your process photos ;)

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  17. Great job! I loved this tart!

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  18. Your finished tart is so fancy. I love it!

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