Blood Orange Tart

When I discovered the mountain of blood oranges at my local grocer, I knew it was the start of something beautiful. Since then, I’ve been making dreamy, delicious, blood orange tarts and sharing (some of) them. Now I’ll share with you!

I’m Janel. You may know me as the videographer (I had the pleasure of producing 70+ Unconventional Baker videos) and now Audrey has graciously invited me to share recipes with the community. From my kitchen to yours, let’s get to the tarts!

This refreshing and colorful, no-bake citrus tart features a creamy blood orange curd that feels like a cloud and is held together by a rich, chocolatey crust. A swoon-worthy pairing as luscious as the first warm days of springtime

An added magical bonus - each batch of blood orange juice provides a unique color profile. Meaning, the final tart will be a surprise hue depending on the variety, freshness, and juiciness of the fruit used: from creamy coral to pale purple or even as pink as strawberry ice cream. Truly a delight for the senses from start to finish!

The delicate texture of this tart calls for delicate decorations. Look for flower petals or herbal tea blends with rose petals, hibiscus petals, and even tiny pieces of dried fruit.

A quick note on pan size:
The recipe is for a 7” diameter tart pan with a shallow (1.2”) height. If your pan has taller sides, scale your recipe up 1.5x, because you’ll want as much tart as your pan can give you!

And some nut-free / coconut-free substitutions, should you need them:

• In place of almonds, cashews, and shredded coconut, substitute with seeds (hemp, pumpkin, sunflower, etc).
• Sub coconut oil with melted cacao butter.
• Sub coconut milk with plant milk of choice.

P.S. If you're into blood oranges + chocolate, you might also enjoy this gluten-free vegan blood orange bundt cake recipe!

Blood Orange Tart

Print Recipe

A refreshing and colorful no-bake blood orange tart recipe with a rich, chocolatey crust. Gluten-free, Vegan, Refined Sugar-Free.

• Author: Janel @ Unconventional Baker
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 7 inch tart
• Category: tarts
• Method: no-bake
• Cuisine: Dessert, Vegan
• Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Crust

• ¹⁄₂ cup almonds
• ¹⁄₄ cup cashews
• ¹⁄₄ cup shredded coconut
• 2 medjool dates, soft & pitted
• 2 tbsp cacao powder
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1¹⁄₂ tablespoon coconut oil, soft solid
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon salt

Filling

• 1 cup blood orange juice, strained*
• 1¹⁄₂ tablespoon agar agar flakes**
• 1 cup coconut milk, canned
• 2-4 tablespoon maple syrup***

Top With

• flower petals, dried citrus peel, cacao nibs

Instructions

Begin with all ingredients at room temperature. The coconut oil should be in a solid state, yet soft enough to scoop with a spoon.

1) Form Crust:
Place all crust ingredients in a food processor and process into a fine crumble.

Scoop crumble mixture into 7-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Press firmly up into sides and then into the bottom of pan until no loose crumbs remain.

Freeze tart crust while preparing the filling.

2) Make Filling:

Begin by straining juice into a small saucepan. Sprinkle agar agar flakes over juice and whisk together. Allow to sit for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Warm over medium heat until the mixture begins to boil, stirring frequently. Simmer for 5 minutes and continue to stir as this activates and completely dissolves the agar agar.

Add coconut milk and maple syrup to the saucepan and stir until mixture is one, uniform color. Remove from heat.

3) Set Tart:

Fill the chilled crust and quickly pop surface air bubbles with tip of a sharp knife. If desired, add lightweight surface decorations like flower petals, small pieces of dried citrus peels, and cacao nibs. Allow to sit on counter for 15 minutes.

Transfer tart to refrigerator for 45 minutes to set. (Set excess filling in a food storage container in the fridge too. Single serving of blood orange panna cotta coming right up!)

4) Once filling is set, remove tart from pan, slice and enjoy! Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Notes

* The number of oranges to yield approximately 1 cup of juice depends on size and juiciness of fruit. I'll typically buy 6 larger blood oranges or a dozen if they're small like clementines.

**Agar agar flakes performed much better over agar powder in testing. Even with proper conversion (1 ½ T flakes = 1 ½ t powder) the filling made with powder was unyielding in it's texture. Use flakes if you can!

***Depends on the tartness of the blood oranges. Sweeten to taste!

Keywords: Blood Orange Tart (Gluten-Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar-Free)