“Ha! hold my Brain; be still my beating Heart.”
—William Mountfort, Zelmane: Or, The Corinthian Queen: A Tragedy
Happy Valentine’s Day! You make my tart beet.
I’m lucky beyond luck to be spending this V-Day with N.
Long distance has made our celebrations more few and far between than we’d like, but it does serve to make things all the more special.
I flew down to Florida to take Step 1 last Tuesday and have been visiting here since.
The test was not fun and I hope to never think about it again. (Healthy coping mechanisms only over here girlies!)
We’ll probably order take out and I will eat raisinettes and chocolate pretzels—he eats cucumbers for dessert, which is extremely discomfiting for me as a BAKING blogger—while wasting away my life on tiktok. Exactly how we want to spend the night, honestly. Never say romance is dead.
These teeny tiny little heart breakers are beet and grapefruit tartlets.
The base is a crisp and buttery beet pâte brisée, filled with smooth, balanced tart and mildly earthy beet-grapefruit curd, and topped with fluffy, barely sweetened beet whipped cream and fresh berries.
Using beet powder allows you to achieve extremely vibrant color without using a drop of food coloring.
I spent about an hour opening caplets of beet powder because my grocery store didn’t have bulk freeze-dried beet powder. Either way works, as long as it’s pure beet. However, one way certainly belies underlying mental instability. Chooser’s choice, or whatever.
Valentine’s Day, previously:
2021:
Rose-covered white and dark chocolate ganache cake
2020:
Frilly and vintage chocolate, cherry, and cacao butter cake
2019:
Funfetti cake with marzipan and salted tahini frosting
2017:
Fluffy, ruffled princess layer cake with a cascade of marzipan roses
Thick, soft M&M cookies
Mocha cupcakes topped with fluffy swirls of vanilla bean Italian meringue buttercream
2016:
Ginger, Malted Vanilla, and Hibiscus layer cake
Baby pink XO salty sugar cookies
Raspberry white chocolate and Nutella éclairs
Brown butter and vanilla bean teacakes
2015:
Fluffy, buttery copycat Lofthouse cookies
Chocolate covered strawberry cake with goat cheese frosting
Dolled-up red velvet cake
Mini pink princesstårta
2014:
Pink grapefruit possets with Ritz crunch and pistachios
Dark and white chocolate French mendiants
Strawberry pocky cake
Salty dark chocolate tarts
Beet and Grapefruit Tarts
makes 10 miniature tarts or one 6-inch round tart
ingredients:
for the beet pâte brisée:
100 grams (3/4 cup) AP flour
30 grams (1/4 cup) powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons beet powder
65 grams (4 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold
1 egg
for the beet grapefruit curd:
100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar
120 grams (1/2 cup) fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice (or lemon or lime)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon beet powder
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
70 grams (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter
to assemble:
120 grams (1/2 cup) heavy whipping cream, cold
1/2 teaspoon beet powder
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
strawberries and raspberries, as desired
directions:
Prepare your tart pans with a very light coat of butter or baking spray.
Make the dough: pulse flour, sugar, salt, and beet powder together in the bowl of a food processor.
Cut butter into small chunks, sprinkle on top of dry mixture, and pulse until the dough looks like sand.
Add the egg and pulse just until dough comes together.
Press dough into your prepared tart pans, trying to evenly spread to the edges.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
To bake the shells, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the tart shells onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Use a fork to dock the shells all over.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until dry to the touch and slightly puffed up.
Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes, then gently turn out of pans and allow to cool completely before filling.
To make the curd, whisk sugar, juice, salt, beet powder, eggs, and egg yolks together until completely emulsified.
Place in a small pot over low heat and begin to cook while whisking constantly.
Once the curd has thickened, about 10 minutes, remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.
Allow to cool for 3 minutes.
Using an immersion blender or vigorous whisking, add the butter in cubes and pulse until the curd is homogeneous.
The curd will stay pourable while it is still warm, so carefully spoon it into the prepared tart pans and shake them gently to level the top.
The curd will firm up and thicken when cooled.
Chill the tarts for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
To assemble, whip the cream, powdered sugar, and beet powder together until soft peaks form.
Pipe into desired design on top of the tarts.
Top with berries and/or additional powdered sugar.