Orange Tart by Gemma Padford

I think I discovered the talented Gemma Patford, who is a Melbourne maker on instagram. I fell in love with her lovely and handmade rope baskets, which later arrived neatly packed on my doorstep to my delight, and is now on display in my cottage kitchen here in England.

Gemma works from her Brunswick home-studio where she creates her rope baskets which you can take a look at here. She regularly joins forces with local makers on special projects, and is known for presenting the odd workshop all over the world!

I love that we share a background in fashion, and styling, and maybe one day our paths may cross, as it would be lovely to actually meet Gemma.

In the meantime let´s enjoy one of two delicious chocolate recipes she has agreed to share with us here at Food for thought.

First up is a decadent Chocolate orange tart, where she was helped by talented Stephanie Stamatis to style and shoot.

I know it´s a Tuesday, but in my world that´s one of those days that may need a bigger dose of chocolate, than say a Saturday, that is already cool on its own.

Let´s dig in!

The Pastry

3 tbs cool water

The rind of 1 orange

3 tbs caster sugar

2 cups plain flour

150 grams cold butter

Preheat your oven to 160 C.

Process the flour, butter, sugar and orange rind in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

While the motor is running, add enough iced water to form a smooth dough. Knead very lightly then wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Once chilled, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface (or between two layers of wax paper) until 3mm thick.

Line a 23cm greased tart tin with the dough. Line the base of your pastry shell with wax paper and fill with pastry weights (or rice) and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the weights / rice then bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden.

The Chocolate filling

6 egg yolks

3 tbs of caster sugar

600ml of thickened cream

200 grams of good quality dark chocolate

Preheat your oven to 160 C.

Pour the cream into a heavy saucepan, and bring to the boil. Take off the heat immediately. Add the chocolate and whisk until smooth and let cool.

In a large bowl whisk together egg yolks and sugar and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.

Add the cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.

Pour into your prepared tart tin and bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven.

Candied Oranges

3 cups water

2 cups sugar

2 navel oranges

Cut your oranges into thick slices (approximately 75mm in thickness).

In a large, heavy saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer. Add orange slices and cook over medium-high heat until translucent, turning occasionally for 40 minutes.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the oranges from the syrup and transfer to a cooling rack. You may want to place the cooling rack over a sheet of wax paper to avoid coating your bench in syrup. Leave to dry overnight.

Bakers notes:

If your oranges are taking a little time to dry, put them in a pre heated oven set to 100 to150 degrees for 20 minutes to speed up the process.

Putting it all together

Take your tart, dust with a little cocoa and serve with candied oranges and a dollop of double cream

Images by Stephanie Stamatis