Blood Orange Tartlets and Sugar Cookies

Blood oranges are hard to come by in Singapore. I used to have the impression that they are only available in the upmarket supermarkets here. Imagine my surprise when I saw some Italian blood oranges in the NTUC (local supermarket chains with mid-priced products) recently. Without hesitation, I bought a pack of the oranges, even though I had no idea of what to do with it then.

I managed to find a recipe here and the oranges were then used in making some tartlets filled with orange curd and decorated with slices of the fruit.


After making the tartlets, I still had some blood orange curd left which I kept in the fridge. One week later, I baked a batch of crunchy and buttery Sugar Cookies to go with the blood orange curd.


Sugar Cookies Recipe
(Adapted from Carole Walter's Great Cookies)

Ingredients:
1 3/4 plain flour, spooned in and leveled
3/4 cup icing sugar, spooned in and leveled
2/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg white, lightly beaten with 2 teaspoons of water
Sugar, for sprinkling

Method:
1) Place flour, icing sugar and cold butter in the bowl of a mixer. Mix with medium speed until the mixture resembles the texture of fine meal.
2) Add in the yolks and vanilla essence to the mixture. Mix JUST until a mass forms.
3) Shape the mixture on a floured surface into a 6-inch disc. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 3 days).
4) Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg F.
5) Working with 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll the pastry on a floured surface until 3/16-inch thick. Using a 1-inch cookie cutter, cut the cookies from the dough.
6) Transfer the cookies to a baking sheet, brush lightly with egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar.
7) Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are just golden brown. To ensure even browning, rotate the pan from top to bottom and front to back.
8) Let rest on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer the cookies with metal spatula and let cool on wire racks.

Comments

daphne said…
that looks intricate. and blood oranges are beautiful in season!
grace said…
3/16-inch thick dough, eh? i'd hafta break out the ruler for that one. :)

both the tarts and the cookies look great!
Edith said…
wow finally saw your blood orange tartlets. looks good. How come the curd not dark orangey in colour considering the fruit is dark.
Anonymous said…
I didn't see any blood oranges around. What's the taste like?

These tartlets and cookies look delectable.
These are so delicate and look great!