Kalamansi Tart with candied Kalamansi

There were many questions prior to and during the Pie Contest about what constitutes a pie. Is a pie a tart? Is a tart a pie? After many weirdly philosophical conversations withe Evan, we decided to say yes to the former, and no to the latter. So it’s perhaps appropriate that a late contribution to our Pie-a-Day project on this blog was a tart. This post is from Maria Villar of the blog Franklin Avenue.

Growing up in the Philippines, the Kalamansi (or calamansi) has always been a part of our everyday life. Used for cooking, baking and simply as a fruit juice, no other taste brings me back to my native land than the unique citrus sourness of the Kalamansi.

Sweet Tart Dough, from Tartine

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 cup sugar

Pinch salt

2 large eggs, room temp

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Kalamansi Cream

5 oz. kalamansi juice

3 whole large eggs

1 large egg yolk

3/4 cup sugar

pinch salt

1 cup unsalted butter, cool

Candied Kalamansi

1 lb kalamansi

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

Whipped Cream

1 cup Heavy Cream

2 Tb. Confectioners Sugar

Prepare the dough:

In a mixer, combine butter, sugar, and salt and mix until smooth. Add eggs one at a time until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add flour all at once and mix on low speed until flour it just incorporated.

Shape dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Roll out disk 1/8″ thick and line a tart pan with dough. Refrigerate the pastry about 15 min.

Preheat over to 325 degrees F. Dock the shell with a fork, then place a piece of parchment paper over shell. Fill shell with beans and blind bake. Take out beans and parchment when sides of shell begin to turn golden. Shell is ready when entire shell is golden brown. Let cool.

Make the Kalamansi cream and whipped cream:

Combine kalamansi juice, whole eggs, yolk, sugar and salt in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk mixture over double boiler until mixture becomes thick and registers 180 degrees. Let cool to 140 degrees.

Cut butter into cubes. Add butter slowly into cooled mixture, using immersion blender to incorporate the butter.

In a separate bowl, beat heavy cream and sugar with a wire whisk until peaks form.

Candy the Kalamansi:

Slice kalamansi thinly, making sure to take out seeds. Bring sugar to a boil with water. When sugar is dissolved, add kalamansi slices. Turn down heat and simmer until kalamansi slices are translucent and sweet.

Assemble the Pie:

Place the prepared Kalamansi cream on the cooked tart shell. Spread the whipped cream and top with candied Kalamansi.