Serves a Crowd

Blood Orange Cardamom Crostata

March 11, 2011
5
1 Ratings
  • Makes 1 8"x11" rectangle tart
Author Notes

This recipe was first inspired by the gorgeous blood oranges that have been at the market recently. They always remind of Italy and the time I spent there in college, so I made a Blood Orange Cardamom Marmalade and turned it into a Blood Orange Cardamom Crostata, a rustic Italian jam tart with gorgeous pieces of candied peel. The marmalade recipe is adapted from Elise Bauer's at Simply Recipes Seville Orange Marmalade.

I'd imagine you could also mix 2 cups of your favorite store bought marmalade with 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom for a quicker version. —piccantedolce

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Blood Orange Cardamom Marmalade
  • 10-12 blood oranges, enough for 2 cups of juice
  • 2 lemons
  • 4 cups water
  • 3 1/2 cups granulated organic cane sugar
  • 10 cardamom pods
  • Crostata
  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon granulated organic cane sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 4 ounces or 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup iced cold water
  • 2 cups blood orange cardamom marmalade
  • 1 lemon - juiced
Directions
  1. Blood Orange Cardamom Marmalade
  2. Scrub the oranges and lemons with soap and water to make sure the skins are clean. Half all of the oranges and juice each half well until you have 2 cups of blood orange juice. Be sure to reserve any seeds or membranes in a separate bowl.
  3. Take the rind from one of the juiced halves, cut it in half and using a spoon or the edge of a small knife carefully scrape out as much of the white pith as possible. The pith is what determines how bitter the marmalade will be. Repeat with each half and then thinly slice the rind into long strips until you have 3 1/2 cups of peel.
  4. Half and juice each lemon and add the lemon juice to the orange juice, also reserving any seeds and membrane.
  5. Put the seed and membranes into 4 layers of cheesecloth and tie up tightly with string.
  6. Place the thinly sliced rind and water in a 4-5 quart thick-bottomed pot. Stir to combine. Place the cheesecloth with the seeds etc in the pot, tie one end of the cheese cloth to the pot's handle, making sure the seeds and membrane are submerged in the liquid.
  7. Bring the mixture to a boil and let boil uncovered for 20-30 minutes until the peels are soft. Taste the peel to determine softness. Remove from heat and place the pectin bag in a bowl and reserve until cool.
  8. Once the pectin bag is cool enough to handle, squeeze it to extract any residual pectin. Add the pectin, the orange & lemon juices and the sugar to the water/peel mixture. Taste and add more sugar to taste if necessary. Tie the cardamom seeds in a few layers of cheesecloth and place the pouch into the pot.
  9. Return to heat and bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally for approximately 30 minutes. Cook until the temperature reaches 220F on a candy thermometer, being careful not to over cook. To test for doneness. Place a few small plates in the freezer and as the temperature gets close, place a tsp of jam onto the plate, place the plate back in the freezer for 30 secs to a minute, if it sets up without running all over it's done.
  10. Remove cardamom pods. If making crostata in the next 24 hours, reserve 2 cups of marmalade. Ladle the rest of the marmalade into sterilized jars (I place mine in a 200F oven for 10 minutes to sterilize) and boil in a hot water canner for 5 minutes.
  1. Crostata
  2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, nutmeg and salt. Using a pastry cutter or a butter knives cut the butter into the dry ingredients until there are crumbs no bigger than peas. Stir in 1/4 cup of the ice cold water and slowly add more until the dough comes together. Form into a rectangle, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly butter a 8"x11" fluted tart pan. In a medium bowl stir to combine the marmalade and lemon juice, set aside.
  4. Roll out the dough into an approximately 10" x 13" rectangle and carefully place into the tart pan, trimming the edges if necessary. Dock the crust all over with a fork, line with aluminum foil and weigh down with pie weights or dried beans. Place into the preheated oven and blind bake for 10 minutes.
  5. Remove par baked crust from the oven and spread the marmalade mixture in an even layer over the tart shell. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for an hour.

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