Vegan Orange-Almond Tart (Pardon Me, Have You Seen My 10 lb. Bag of Oranges?): French Fridays with Dorie

So, this week, it's oranges, last week, it was eggs. Not that oranges pose any great diet/moral concern, they don't. However, how I lost a 10 lb. bag of oranges is a whole other story. I wanted to write a true "foodie" post today. Bring in all the bake-ness verbiage I could muster, follow that with some true-to-form food shots. Well, that all got tossed out the window when I lost my bag of oranges I'd purchased to make this lovely French dessert some place between Walmart and home. It doesn't seem like a big deal until you realize I never purchase oranges more than two at a time. If that

I had my list in hand, oranges on top because this week we're using four to create this lovely little dessert darling from Around My French Table. (It was a yummy, yummy dessert by the way even if it lacked chocolate--I'll tell you about it in a sec.)

I shop Walmart. I know some folks bristle at that, and recently had the pleasure of hearing yet again, a friend say: Oh, I know Walmart will have this for a better price, but I don't shop there. Whatever! and roll my eyes. I lucked out when I got there--they had this gi-normous bag of eight oranges for a ridiculously low price--like 2.85 or something. Sold. So I heaved the oranges into my cart--thinking, well, what in the heck will I do with the other five oranges I'm bringing home? No matter, these are such a great deal! I finished my shopping, unpacked everything and was getting ready to clear the kitchen after dinner when I realized, Hmmm, something's not right. I looked at my fruit basket: no oranges. (Not that a 10 lb. bag of fruit would fit in my fruit keeper, but clearly, I had no oranges on hand.)

It was nine at night. I was alone. Dr. Thyme was in another state, probably sleeping. I couldn't call him and ask what he thinks might have happened to my oranges. But I KNOW I bought a bag of oranges! So out to the garage I went. No oranges in my car. Then I double checked my receipt. Yep. I bought oranges. Nope. I have no oranges. So I call Walmart. Hello, I seem to have left something behind. What? Oh, a HUGE bag of oranges, light bulbs and some ink jet stuff. Okay, give me the number on the receipt, I'll go to the register and see if your oranges are there. Okay. (I wait.) She comes back. Ma'am, we don't have your oranges at the register, but I could get your "tracking and time" number from the receipt and have security pull up the video of your shopping and checking out and we'll be able to tell you what happened to the oranges.
WHAT?! You could WHAT?! Video? Security? I began to shake. I thought of the movie Minority Report. I thought of Big Brother. I paused, took a deep breath and said, Uh, you know what, I think I'll look one more time and if no oranges, well, my tough luck and promptly hung up the phone.

Okay. I don't know about you all, but for me, I would rather die than watch a video of myself shop. I am sure I have provided hours of fun for security camera people. In fact, I know I have. Stopping and starting. Trekking full lengths of the store three, sometimes four times. Trips to the bathroom. Reading every label on every single thing I pick up. Putting things back. . . sometimes where they don't belong. But then, I was even more dismayed by the fact that there is some cryptic time capture on my receipt which would allow for such things as a video replay of my humble ordeal to be played back! Really, no thanks, I'd rather die. Just sayin'.

One more trip to my car, it's now almost ten at night. I'm tired. I open the back hatch, look in the trunk, and no oranges. . . wait, what's that in my back seat? My ORANGES! Whew. They could have froze to death, it was near zero that night. Why the heck I placed this lonely bag in the back seat of my car rather than in the trunk and have absolutely NO memory doing so, I have no idea. Well, I do have an idea: I'm Almost Fifty! My decline has begun. This darn cold winter, ice everywhere, my lack of running, my lack of sunshine, it's just been bloody AWFUL these past few months. My mind is going.

The next morning, I began making my tart. First of all, I'd never, ever made a tart before. Ever. Hard to believe with all the baking going on here during the past few years. And given that this is the year of the pie, surely I would have come to the tart at some point. But not so. However, just like I had this little gnocchi board I'd picked up at a local kitchen supply store, I had also bought a 9" tart pan at some point--removeable bottom and all. It still had the price tag on it: $15--but never been used.

This endeavor took all morning to prep. So, let me say, if you think you can whip this up in an evening, forget about it. You need half a day at least. Those French have a lot of cooking time on their hands, if you ask me.

However, given all that, I truly did relish every aspect of prepping AND baking this dessert. First of all, the aroma of the oranges in the kitchen on a ten degree day lifted my spirits more than you could imagine. (I also ate a whole orange in the process.)  Then, that tart base--I ate almost half of it in RAW form before I even began baking it. It was the BEST. I just knew this was going to come together and be divine. And it was. Truly, this labor-intensive little French jewel will make a repeat, perhaps in the design of some other fruit tart--and one I don't need to purchase in bulk to afford, but really, we LOVED this. And I had it for breakfast this morning with my oatmeal. Yum!
Little orange pieces set out to dry, about three hours. So cute. I love the color orange.
Barely enough dough for my tart base, because. . . I ate so much of it raw! I pressed my tart dough in right after I made it, then froze it in the pan for about an hour before filling it with the almond cream and baking as Dorie suggests. I think I'll remake this tart dough, bake it by itself and have it as a shortbread cookie. It's that good.
Ready for baking.
Viola'! To see how the other Frenchies and non-alike made this, check them out at French Fridays with Dorie.  
















Comments

  1. Great job Kelly! This tart looks delicious. ANything with oranges is delicious especially if it is a French tart. Do not worry about forgetting where you put your produce. It happens all the time to me.

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  2. I can sympathize Kelly, yesterday I spent almost an hour looking for a set of keys that I finally found at the bottom of the "key basket". A place that I had already checked, twice.
    That tart looks so good, I hope you will post the shortbread cookies.

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  3. Your tart looks great! Try putting some oranges in an arugula salad with balsamic vinaigrette--that's a really good combination.

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  4. I agree about the time. For most of the FFwD recipes I find myself thinking, how can Dorie have a life and make these recipes all the time? I coldn't cook French every day.

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  5. Girl you are a coconut! Which is good. I have spent a good deal of time looking for my glasses ... when they were on top of my head or, worse ... IN MY HAND. Anyhoo ... I am glad you are no longer a tart virgin. If this had been a savory tart, I woulda been all over it. : )

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  6. Why does your tart look so much more delish than mine? It's jumping out of the picture!
    Great post!

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  7. Cute post! And, your tart looks great - I'd like to try it with oranges next time. Thanks so much for the compliments!

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  8. Your crust looks delicious. Next time I'm going to try skipping the blind baking so it doesn't get quite so dark. I'm glad your tart was a success!

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  9. Too funny. I know that I would lose my head if it weren't attached at times... Glad you found the oranges!

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  10. Hi Kelly- Your tart looks great. We also ate a little too much of the raw dough...so good:) I didn't blind bake and I baked at lower temp b/c I've learned my lesson:)

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  11. What a great tart! Kinda creepy about time stamp at Wal-mat though. I have a friend that actually got a call from Wal-mart once because the teller did not give her enough change. Way freeky!

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  12. Hi Noelle! Thanks so much! I will forever be a lover of the orange.

    Hi veganhomemaker! I got a good laugh at your lost key story. Been there. Done that! LOL! Will hopefully make some shortbread cookies soon!

    Hi slongcoat! Yum, I will give that a try!

    Hi Ms. Hobby! So glad someone else agrees with me!

    Trixie Girl! I owe my initial purchase of said tart pan to your blog and your cooking school post--you inspired it, you coconut!

    Hi Allison! Thanks so much--here's my trick: I took the darn thing outside for better light. I think the snow helps!

    Hi Creating Amazing Meals! Thanks so much! I really was impressed with your pears on tart.

    Hi Christina! I'll be honest, I was confused as to what method I should use, to blind bake or not--I lucked out on this one--thanks for the note!

    Hi Cher! Oh, thank goodness someone else feels the same!

    Hi Cake Duchess! Thank you! I probably should have mentioned that I got a little tummy ache after my mass consumption of the dough! Baking at lower temp.--good call, will have to try that on next tart.

    Hi Ronda! LOL! Okay, and that "phone call" business--whoa.

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  13. I was howling with laughter- with you, not at you. Seems like eventually we all have one of these "French Fridays" snafus and I supposed because misery loves company....I find these all the more inspiring than the folks that whip up perfect results without challenge. Thx for sharing and great results !

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  14. How beautiful! I have never heard of an orange tart...which makes this even more intriguing! And of course, you made me laugh out loud with your orange story. I've been there! And I'm only 24! Thank you for sharing, sweet woman. I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow. Take time to love yourself and those that are dearest to your heart!

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  15. I'm catching up on blog posts! It sounds like you received even more ice than I did. I hope you're thawing this week.

    The orange tart looks delicious!

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  16. Your orange story is both funny and a little creepy - it's scary thinking that they could find a tape of you that easily. Minority Report indeed!

    The tart looks beautiful. I think I'm going to have to spring for a tart pan this year.

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