- To make the blood orange curd, place the orange rind, orange juice, sugar, butter and egg yolks in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon.
- Pour curd into a 250ml capacity sterilised jar and seal. Set aside to cool. This can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month.
- To make the shortcrust pastry in a food processor, process flour, butter and a pinch of salt, until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. With the motor still running, add the whisked egg and 1 tablespoon chilled water in a bowl until combined. Process until mixture begins to form large clumps, stopping machine before mixture forms a ball. Turn pastry out on to a work surface and knead gently to bring together. Form into four equal sized discs, and wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 220C or 200C fan-forced. Spray four 10cm tartlet tins with spray oil and dust with plain flour. Roll out each disc of pastry and line each tartlet tin with the pastry, trimming off the edges. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
- Blind bake the pastry cases by lining the base and sides of an uncooked pastry case with non-stick baking paper. Fill with baking weights, rice or dried beans. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Then remove the pastry case from the oven and remove the baking paper and rice, dried beans or baking weights. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes or until light golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- To make the meringue, place the egg whites and salt in a large, clean, dry mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer or electric hand beaters to whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar, a spoonful at a time, whisking until combined. Place merinuge into a piping bag fitted with your favourite nozzle.
- To assemble, place a pastry case in the middle of a plate and fill with blood orange curd. Pipe meringue on top of the curd, and around the plate. Using a kitchen blowtorch, flame the meringue until they have been lightly browned. Decorate your blood orange meringue tartlets with cooked sago, rosemary, orange segments, edible flowers and gold leaf.
- Serve immediately.
Tips:
You can always use store bought, pre-rolled shortcrust pastry.
Instead of making four blood orange meringue tartlets, you can make one big one instead.
To check out more of Iron Chef Shellie’s delicious creations, visit her website!
