Tuna Toast

Blood Orange Galette

The very instant I saw this blood orange tart on Smitten Kitchen earlier this year, it was love at first sight. The vivid colors of the oranges peered over a buttery crust and I knew immediately that I had to make this. You see, my parents have a blood orange tree in their front yard, and they’ve already got the jam and sorbet thing down pat, which leaves me little to do with the fruit. Or so I thought until I baked up one of these gorgeous galettes.



I guess it never occurred to me to actually bake something with oranges in it. Sure, the zest is great in pie crust or cookies. The juice could be cooked into a simple syrup and poured over a loaf cake. But to actually bake something that featured actual oranges in it? Oddly enough, about two weeks after I’d spied Smitten Kitchen’s beautiful Blood Orange Tart, J came home with a small sliver of an orange tart he’d tried at the Little Flower Candy Company and loved so much that he saved a piece for me to taste and try to recreate. It looked very similar to the Smitten Kitchen version, and when my parents brought over a large bag of oranges a few weeks later, I knew I had to try it.



Since I’d had such fabulous luck with Smitten Kitchen’s (no, I’m not her stalker, I just like the site ok?!?!) galette dough, I decided to ditch the all butter pastry and make a sweet version of that. I basically added about ½ cup of powdered sugar to the savory dough recipe. As with the previous ten or so times I’ve made this dough, it was a dream to handle and rolled out easily with no tearing or fuss. It’s truly the easiest and most successful dough recipe I’ve ever used and I’ll probably continue to use it for anything that calls for a pie dough in the future.



After rolling the dough out into a circle, I just put the segmented oranges in the middle, sprinkled that with some sugar and then dotted it with a tablespoon of butter. After crimping in the sides, brushing them with egg wash and sprinkling that with some turbinado sugar for texture, I layered the top of the galette with sliced blood oranges. I loved how each orange differed in color which makes each galette unique.



As you can see, it’s a real stunner and is great for dessert or breakfast. I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but J and I managed to polish off an entire one over the course of a weekend, sneaking slices here and there and eating it like pizza. I made another one that same weekend but gave it to my parents to thank them for the blood oranges, and also so J and I wouldn’t go bonkers and eat a second one (we’re not total gluttons, after all!).



J exclaimed this to be “the best dessert you’ve ever made!” I guess the mix of oranges, butter, sugar and flaky dough is pretty addictive. If you have a bag of blood oranges (or any oranges, really!) laying around, I highly recommend you give this a try.