Celebrate citrus season with this tangy and sweet grapefruit tart! Tangy grapefruit curd is perfectly balanced by a mildly sweet and slightly salty honey graham cracker and pistachio crust and a delicately sweet meringue topping dusted with salty chopped pistachios.
Welp, I'm definitely over winter, but citrus season is welcome to stick around a while longer! I can never get enough fresh citrus this time of year. Maybe because it's all just so delicious. Or maybe because citrus fruits look like sunshine, something we see way too little of here in Pittsburgh in the winter.
There are so many ways to enjoy citrus, but one of my all time favorites is homemade curd made with fresh citrus juice. Nothing beats its rich texture and the marriage of tangy citrus and sweet, sugary flavor.
I could eat citrus curd with a spoon (no judgement, please), but when paired with a crumbly crust it makes for one heck of a dessert. I'm not exaggerating: this grapefruit tart is truly epic!
This grapefruit tart combines creamy grapefruit curd with a honey and pistachio graham cracker crust for a pairing that's both smooth and crunchy, sweet and slightly salty with the perfect amount of tanginess! Topped with meringue and chopped pistachios, it looks almost as good as it tastes!
Looking for even more grapefruit recipe inspiration? I'm so excited to be teaming up with an amazing group of bloggers to share a batch of grapefruit recipes! Follow along on Instagram, where we'll all be sharing our grapefruit recipes using the hashtag #greatfruitgrapefruit.
for the curd:
2 tsp. finely grated grapefruit zest
1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (from about 2 grapefruits)
2 T lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
12 egg yolks
pinch of salt
12 T unsalted butter, room temperature
for the crust:
½ cup graham cracker crumbs (from about 10 graham crackers)
⅛ cup finely chopped pistachios
6 T unsalted butter, melted
1 T honey
meringue topping:
⅛ cup water
1/16 tsp. cream of tartar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg white
garnish:
chopped pistachios
DIRECTIONS:
make the curd:
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the zest, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, and salt. Cook the mixture over moderately low heat for 30 minutes, or until the curd thickens. Stir often while cooking.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and whisk the butter into the curd until smooth. Cover the curd with plastic wrap so it touches the surface of the curd and refrigerate for at least 3 hours until set and chilled.
make the crust:
In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and chopped pistachios. In a small bowl, add the melted butter and honey and stir to combine. Pour the butter mixture over the graham cracker mixture and stir to form moist crumbs. Press the crumbs into a 14-inch x 4-inch tart pan using the back of a spoon, filling the bottom and sides of the pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the crust for 8 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
Spread the chilled curd into the cooled crust.
make the meringue topping:
In a small saucepan, heat water, cream of tartar, and sugar over medium heat stirring until dissolved. When the syrup starts to boil, cover the pan and let boil for 3 minutes. Then uncover the pan and allow to cook for another 2 minutes without stirring.
While the syrup is cooking, place egg white in a medium bowl and beat well with a hand mixer on high speed until fluffy. Then, with the mixer running on medium speed, slowly add the syrup. Return the mixer to high speed and continue to beat the mixture until the it reaches room temperature and stiff peaks form.
Add the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a star piping tip and pipe meringue onto tart.
Garnish the tart with chopped pistachios. Slice into 8 pieces and serve.
Curd recipe adapted from Food & Wine.
Meringue topping recipe adapted from Joy of Cooking.[/recipe]
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