It is January and you should be expected at least one recipe a week involving juicy, citrus , kindness. Are we OK with that? I was lucky to find a perfect bag in search of blood oranges at Trader Joes last week and they were simply begging to be juiced and cooked in something so here it is.
These bars are so bright and citrusy, with regard to both looks and taste. The curd is super creamy, silky and full of bright orange-y good pie. Coupled with a shortbread flavor combo is pretty amazing. I served them with a little football watch party at the weekend and everyone was just delirium. The bright flavor and summer shade seem sure to brighten these winter doldrums with us here in New York. (Although we leave for Mexico in less than three weeks, which is SO exciting- more on that later ...)
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1½ cup flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons [1945021cornstarch]
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 eggs, beaten
- 2 egg yolks, beaten
- zest of 3 blood oranges
- 1¼ cup blood orange juice *
- 1 stick of butter cut into cubes unsalted
- Preheat oven to 350 ° F. Line a 8x8 baking pan with two interlocking pieces of parchment paper (so that the edges hang over allowing you to lift all on
- Melt butter, stir the sugar until dissolved. Then add the flour and salt and mix until it comes together. Press the dough into the mold using your fingers to distribute evenly in the pan.
- Bake the crust for 30 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
- in a heatproof bowl, combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt, whisk in blood orange juice, zest, egg yolks and egg until smooth and well combined consistency.
- Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. (Cooking in a water bath of all kinds) and whisk the mixture constantly for 5-7 minutes, until thickened and bubbly like lava. Stir in the butter pieces a couple at a time until they melt.
- as soon as the crust from the oven, pour the sour milk and bake for another 15 minutes to set the filling.
- Allow the bars to cool completely at room temperature, then cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold with an optional dusting of powdered sugar
1- My bright and beautiful juice blood orange faded as during the cooking phase I chose to add a few drops of food coloring to brighten up. This is optional of course.
2 The original recipe suggests to force the curd through a sieve to filter zest and all the pieces that have formed. I skipped this step and we were still very pleased with the results, but a smoother filling may have resulted if I had done.