Have you ever tried blood oranges? I’ve been seeing lots of incredible recipes using them, and I was getting really curious. Today my friend Stephanie from Sustaining the Powers and I challenged each other to create a recipe using blood oranges. My creation? These gorgeous Blood Orange Custard Tarts.
Typically I’m not much of an orange fan. I have taught myself to like orange juice, but I never really eat an orange plain or go for an orange dessert. But I had a feeling blood oranges would be different. And boy, was I right!
The package said that blood oranges have a rich orange taste with hints of berry. They are a strikingly bright red and are super juicy. And I might be becoming addicted to them…
Blood oranges definitely win the award for “Most Photogenic Food.” I loved cutting them open to see the bright red color. I couldn’t get enough pictures of them!
You’ll definitely want to buy an entire bag of these beauties. They make a great snack or addition to your packed lunch. I was glad to be able to enjoy them for the rest of the week.
I’ve heard that blood oranges can be hard to come by at most grocery stores. I was able to find this package of Lil’ Snappers that are designed for kids at Wal-mart. They were the perfect size for the tarts, though! I’ve also heard that Whole Foods generally carries them.
I know, I know, I cheated a bit with the phyllo shells! I’ve been wanting to try them forever, though, so I decided to give them a try with this recipe. The only problem was that a lot of them had holes and the custard leaked out! I resolved this problem by placing them in mini cupcake liners.
Blood Orange Custard Tarts
Ingredients
- 3-4 small Blood Oranges
- 2 boxes, 15 count each Mini Phyllo Shells
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Heat water on stovetop until boiling. Dissolve sugar in water and take off heat. Add milk, salt, vanilla and eggs and whisk gently until incorporated.
- Strain mixture twice. Set aside.
- Peel and slice the blood oranges. Set aside.
- Take the phyllo dough shells out of the package. Place each shell into a mini cupcake liner and place them in a baking sheet keeping them close together. As they bake, the sides tend to spread and the custard spills out if you don't do this.
- Use a tablespoon to pour the custard into the shells. Add a blood orange slice to each tart.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until custard is browned. Serve immediately! The custards will get soggy if you let them sit too long or put them in the refrigerator.
Stephanie’s Recipe
Stephanie of Sustaining the Powers created this delicious Blood Orange Chicken recipe, which is a simplified version of Chicken L’Orange. Isn’t it a gorgeous dish? I am so excited to try it!
Join in the Challenge!
Do you have a blood orange recipe? Or just an orange recipe that could easily be adapted? We would love to see it! Join in the challenge and link up below. The link up will remain open for an entire week, so you have time to create a recipe if you would like.
[inlinkz_linkup id=506045 mode=1]
Next Month’s Challenge!
Stephanie and I had so much fun working together for this challenge, so we decided to do it on a monthly basis. The best part is, you get to join in the fun! Every third week of each month we will host a link up on our blogs where you can share your recipe featuring our challenge ingredient or cooking technique.
Next month’s challenge is…. Chia Seeds! Try to think outside the box and come up with a new way to use chia seeds in a recipe.
Start brainstorming a creative way to use our challenge ingredient. Anytime during the third week of April, share your recipe in a post on your blog. Then come by A Savory Feast or Sustaining the Powers to link up your post and see what everyone else created.
Steph @Sustaining the Powers says
This was so much fun!! I can’t wait to try your tarts. And try those Phyllo shells.
It also looks like we may have found two different types of blood oranges. Mine were huge like naval oranges. Were yours smaller like cuties?
Jenna Brussee says
I’m so glad we started this! It’s been a lot of fun. Let me know if you try my recipe! I need to see if I’ve got enough oranges left to make your dinner.
Mine were more like cuties. I was able to find them at Wal-mart. They are designed to be snacks for kids similar to cuties.
Steph @Sustaining the Powers says
I am most definitely going to try them! If you don’t have enough left to juice down for the gastrique, you can cut the recipe in half, or just sub in some pre-squeezed grapfruit or orange juice and use the zest from the blood orange. I’ve also got a rosemary blood orange syrup recipe coming on Wednesday because I couldn’t decide about sweet vs savory, so you may want to set some aside for that instead and just use regular oranges for the chicken.
Jenna Brussee says
I put your Blood Orange Chicken on my meal plan for this week! I think I have enough oranges left for it. And I may need to buy more for the syrup!
Gennie says
What a cool idea! I love these recipe challenges, and those tarts sound amazing!
Jenna Brussee says
We are having a lot of fun with it! These tarts were so good.
Anna @ The Beauty Section says
I’ve never tried blood oranges before but this sounds great, and looks so pretty. You are right blood oranges are beautiful in pictures!! I need to try these, I have a blood orange lotion and it smells amazing!! 🙂
Jenna Brussee says
You should try them! There are so many things you can do with them.
Becca Davis says
I love blood oranges! The color is so pretty and they flavor is much more tart.
Jenna Brussee says
I love them too! They were so good in these tarts, and I’m excited to find more ways to use them.
Jenna Brussee says
You should change that! They were so good.
Christie says
I am so hungry now!! 🙂 I haven’t cooked with blood oranges before, but you’ve convinced me to! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Bloggers Brags! I’m pinning to the Bloggers Brags board on Pinterest. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Jenna Brussee says
You really should try cooking with them! I’m going to be making Stephanie’s Blood Orange Chicken recipe tonight.
Rachel Beach says
I have used blood oranges! I have baked with them but I bet it’s really good. Pinning. Thanks for sharing on Merry Monday!
Jenna Brussee says
Blood Oranges are so good! I am not big fan of oranges, but blood oranges are a whole different story.