Grapefruit Tart with Crispy Meringue

Grapefruits are often eaten raw, sprinkled with some sugar or salt but rarely used in baked recipes. I love this fruit, and thought it was a pity it wasn't used more often!








So, I tried to twist one of my favorite dessert recipe, the lemon tart, and make a grapefruit version. The acidity of the lemon is replaced by the bitterness of the grapefruit for an absolute pleasure!







Step 1: The Crispy Meringue.

1 Egg White
50g (1/4 cup) Granulated Sugar

Set the oven to 100C (200F).
Whip the egg white until soft peaks. Add slowly the sugar and keep mixing until stiff peaks.
Spread a thin layer of meringue on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 3 hours or until the meringue is dry.

Step 2: The Dough.

190g Softened Butter
5g Salt
50 mL Milk
250g Flour

Mix the butter with a wooden spoon (or with the paddle if you have a mixer) until it's soft. Add the salt and the milk. Mix for one minute. Add the flour and mix until it combines. Form a ball by hand. Wrap it in a plastic film and leave it to rest for one hour in the fridge.
Line your tart tin with the dough. Poke some little holes in the dough with a fork. Cover the base with baking parchment and fill the tin with baking beans. Bake for 15 to 20 min. Remove the beans and parchment. Bake for 5 more min or until the crust is golden.

Step 3: The Filling.



375g (1 cup 3/4) Granulated Sugar
75g (3/4 cup) Corn Starch
Zest of 2 Grapefruits
375g (1 cup 1/2) Grapefruit Juice
Juice from one Lemon
75g Butter
6 Egg Yolks






In a sauce pan, mix the sugar, the corn starch and the grapefruit zest. Add the grapefruit juice, the lemon juice and the egg yolks. Mix well. Bring the mixture to a boil. Take the pan off the heat. Add the butter and mix until melted.

Strain the filling to remove the zest. With a blender, mix the filling for 5 minutes.

Pour the filling into the tart shell. spread it evenly (you can use a spatula). Place the tart in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

I even added some grapefruit pieces before pouring the filling into the shell for extra 'gourmandise'!


Just before serving, cut the meringue into pieces and place it on the top of the tart.







If you want a lighter version, you can replace the meringue by grapefruit pieces.

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Almond & Anise Biscotti

Biscotti are biscuits originally from the city of Prato in Italy (Tuscany). Biscotti means 'Baked twice', which create dry cookies, perfect for a long preservation.
Those are absolutely delicious with an espresso or a black tea!

I made those ones with almond and aniseeds but you can imagine to flavor them with different ingredients (such as pistachios, chocolate, lemon zest, orange zest, hazelnuts or honey for example).



Ingredients (Make about 3 dozen):

2 eggs
185g (3/4 cup) Granulated Sugar
125 mL (1/2 cup) Vegetable Oil

2 teaspoons Crushed Aniseeds (you can also use fennel seeds)
1 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Salt
315g (2 cups) All-Purpose Four
170g (1 cup) Coarsely Chopped Almonds


Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
Combine eggs, sugar, oil, aniseeds, vanilla and salt together. Whisk to blend.
Add the flour, the baking powder and the almonds and stir until a dough forms. Divide the dough in half.

With each half, form a log of 5cm (about 2 in.) in diameter. Carefully transfer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Be careful to space them well apart as the logs will spread during baking.

Bake until firm to the touch, about 30 min. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for about 10 min. Leave the oven set at 180C (350F) (remember, Biscotti means "baked twice"!).
Carefully transfer the logs to a work surface (use a spatula if you have one). Using a serrated knife cut crosswise into slices 1.5 cm thick (about 1/2 in.).

Place the slices cut-side down on the baking sheet. Return to the oven and bake until lightly brown (about 20 min.).

Place the cookies on a wire rack and allow them to cool down for few minutes.

You can store them in a airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.




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A little about me...

I’m a simple French girl, born in the late 80’ and raised in a tiny village next to Poitiers (Middle West part of France). Since I was a kid, my relationship to food has always been passionate. Raised in a farm, I had constant access to incredibly fresh local products. I grew up eating fruits and vegetables coming from the garden, pâtés and charcuterie my mum would actually make, and meat from animals we raised ourselves.

Nonetheless, I never thought about working in the food industry. I started to study Sciences and graduated in Chemistry few years later. Realizing soon, I didn't want to work in this field, I took a radical decision that changed my life.

I decided to leave for a one-year internship in a food company in US. The company, based in the Bay Area (California) was (and still is) producing French inspired individual desserts. I was working in the Research and Development Department.
I started as an intern and ended up managing most of the department (I came for a year, and actually stayed for almost four!).

This was it! From this point I knew I wanted to be a Pastry Chef!

I came back to France and worked in couple of other places (in France and Finland).
I've now decided to graduate in Pastry.

So, here is my blog, with no pretension to teach anything, but just the joy to share my passion for Pastry and Food...Bon Appétit!

Stéphanie.

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Life is too short, Eat dessert first!