Pomelo-Coconut Tart with Candied Citrus

I love citrus desserts. It all started when I was pregnant. I was watching episodes of Dexter back to back and, in case you don’t watch the show, in Season Three, there’s this whole subplot where Dexter is trying to find “the perfect key lime pie” for a family friend on her death bed. Five months pregnant, bored out of my mind, lonely, and constantly starving, watching those episodes of Dexter was all it took to ignite the most hardcore craving for key lime pie in the history of ever. But it didn’t stop, and the key lime pie craving turned into a an insatiable hunger for all things sweet and citrus. Lemon meringue, orange sticky buns, blood orange sorbet….all were consumed in disgusting quantities….

Anyway, in the midst of my citrus dessert frenzy I started toying around with ideas about how to expand the classic key lime pie recipe to other citrus fruits….and although my daughter is 17 months old, I am just now moving out of the realm of fantasy into actually making it happen. *Sigh* there’s been a lot going on…and I am incredibly lazy.

This recipe calls for pomelos — which are more or less really big, slightly sweet grapefruits — but you could certainly use regular grapefruit (or lemon, lime, blood orange, or any other relatively sour citrus) in place of them. The crust is essentially a coconut shortbread, and the filling a revision of the classic key lime pie. Candied citrus 100% optional.

Ingredients:

Candied Citrus (needs to be done 1-2 days ahead of serving):

– 20-25 very thin (I recommend using a mandolin) slices of citrus, any kind

– 1 1/2 c. sugar

Crust:

– 1/2 c. sweetened coconut flakes

– 3/4 c. flour

– 1/2 c. cold butter

– 1/3 c. powdered sugar

– 1/4 tsp. salt

Filling:

– 2 (14 oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk

– 2 Tbsp. finely grated pomelo zest

– 1 cup freshly squeezed pomelo juice

– 4 large egg yolks

 

 

Directions:

1. Place sliced citrus in a large casserole dish. Cover each piece well with sugar. Toss to coat.

2. Cover and place in refrigerator. Let sit 1-2 days, tossing occasionally.

3. Preheat oven to 350F

4. Spread coconut over a sheet pan and toast, stirring occasionally until golden — about 10 minutes. Let cool.

5. Combine flour, coconut, powdered sugar, and salt in a large bowl

6. Cut in cold butter. Mix until dough just begins to form. (This can most easily be done by pulsing in a food processor, but I did it by hand and got the same result….with a bit more time and effort)

7. Form dough into a ball

8. Press dough into a tart or pie pan

9. Freeze until firm — about 10 minutes

10. Bake at 350F until golden  — about 25 minutes — then set aside and allow to cool completely

11. Whisk together freshly squeezed pomelo juice, zest, and egg yolks

12. Slowly add sweetened condensed milk, whisking all the while

13. Pour filling into pie crust (you will have some left over — I poured it into a tiny dish and baked it separately)

14. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes, until just set in the center

15. Let cool 30 minutes

16. Loosely cover and chill in refrigerator 8 hours or longer. Filling will set as it cools and bubbles in filling will disappear

17. Decorate with candied citrus. I also mixed together a little powdered sugar and water and coated the edge of my pie pan so that I could adhere toasted coconut for added decoration.

18. Serve chilled. Excellent with fresh sweet whipped cream…

Pecan Shortbreads with Maple-Caramel Filling

Some of my favorite memories of my time in Argentina (surprise, surprise) involve food. Pizza napoletana in El Centro, empanadas from the vendors on Puerto Madero, bon-o-bons in every bodega… But one of my favorite foods I discovered in Argentina was the alfajor. Alfajores are essentially two rich shortbread cookies sandwiching a gooey layer of the ubiquitous Latin American treat dulce de leche, and often covered in chocolate, coconut, or powdered sugar. Yeah…

This recipe is a riff on the Argentine alfajor, but it can easily be divided to provide a quick and simple recipe for pecan shortbread, and/or a recipe for caramel that can be cooled on a sheet tray and cut into candies. One point of caution however: if you do use the caramel recipe for candy-making you may want to substitute the maple syrup with light corn syrup. The maple syrup in this recipe makes a far less chewy, much softer and yet more toothsome caramel. It is perfect for sandwiching between cookies, and is delicious on its own, but this recipe will definitely make a different caramel candy than you are used to.

 

Ingredients

Yields 15-20 cookie sandwiches or about 3 dozen individual cookies, depending on size

For the shortbread:

– 1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

– 3/4 c. powdered sugar

– 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

– 2 1/3 c. flour

– 1 c. finely chopped raw pecans

 

For the maple-caramel:

– 1/2 c. butter (1 stick)

– 1 c. sugar

– 1 c. whole milk or cream

– 1/2 c. good quality maple syrup

– 1/2 tsp. vanilla

 

Directions

For the cookies:

1. Combine butter, powdered sugar, and salt. Beat until smooth.

2. Add flour and pecans and mix until just combined — do not over-mix

3. Form dough into a long log, about 2” in diameter

4. Wrap tightly in wax paper

5. Freeze until firm (about 30 minutes, but can be made ahead of time and frozen for 3-4 weeks)

6. Preheat oven to 350F

7. Remove paper and slice into thin disks, about 1/4” thick

8. Place disks onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, at least 1” apart (they won’t spread much)

9. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes, or until golden around the edges

10. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheets at least 5 minutes before transferring to towels or a rack to finish cooling

 

For the maple-caramel:

1. Over medium-low heat melt butter in a medium saucepan

2. Stir in sugar, milk, and maple syrup, increase heat to medium and bring to a boil, stirring often

3. Cook until a candy or oil thermometer reads 245F. This will take a while — probably about 30 minutes — but it is very important to continue stirring frequently so that your caramel does not burn

4. Once caramel has reached 245F remove from heat and promptly stir in vanilla

5. Allow to cool.

— For these cookies you want your caramel to be moderately cooled, but not so cool that it becomes hard and sticky and difficult to work with; about 30 minutes should be sufficient but you can check the consistency as it cools and begins the sandwiching process where you are comfortable.

— If you are making candies on the other hand, you will want to pour your caramel, immediately after adding vanilla, onto a greased and parchment lined sheetpan and allow to cool completely. Use a knife or clean kitchen scissors to cut into pieces and wrap in wax paper.

Welcome to the festival of cookies! Overdo it much?!