The inspirations for my recipes often come from the most random places. For this refreshing citrus tart, I was browsing Pinterest one day and came across a recipe for lemon ricotta pancakes, which is one of my favorite breakfast dishes. I was given some new tart pans at Christmas and wanted to use them, and thought I would combine similar flavors from the pancake recipe into a dessert.

Instead of using lemons I chose to use oranges. Because I wanted to use my Christmas gift to make this dessert, I started thinking about those chocolate oranges that are so popular around the holidays.

I already had a chocolate shortbread tart crust in my arsenal that is completely fabulous and I knew it would be the perfect pairing for the light and citrusy filling.

The result ended up being one of my favorite tarts ever. The filling is fluffy and flavorful without being too heavy or rich. The combination of the orange with the bold chocolate crust is a killer pairing. As a bonus, I served this tart to our friends who said it reminded them of the chocolate oranges at Christmas before I mentioned where I got the idea for this tart!

Chocolate Orange Ricotta Tart

Author: Erin Browne
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 1 10-inch tart 1x

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

Chocolate Shortbread Crust:
1 ½ cup all purpose flour
⅓ cup (mounded) Dutch process cocoa powder
⅓ cup (mounded) white granulated sugar
¼ mounded tsp salt
12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) cold butter, cut into large chunks
Orange Ricotta Tart Filling:
1 16oz container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 8oz container mascarpone cheese
¾ cup white granulated sugar
¼ cup (scant) honey
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 TBS orange liqueur, Cointreau or similar
Zest of 2 large oranges
Powdered sugar and dried orange slices (optional, for garnish)

Instructions

For the crust:
Lightly grease or butter the bottom and sides of a 10-inch x 1-inch tart pan. Set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Pulse a couple of times to combine. Add cold butter pieces to the food processor and pulse until mixture is "sandy" and dark and the butter is fully incorporated.
Dump crumb mixture into prepared tart pan and press firmly into an even layer across the bottom and up the sides of pan.
Chill the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
For the filling:
Preheat oven to 265F.
Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the ricotta, mascarpone, sugar, and honey until well combined. With the mixer on low, add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time and mix until combined, and then increase mixer speed to medium and continue mixing until smooth.
In a small bowl, combine the orange liqueur with the orange zest and then add to the cheese mixture and beat on low until combined. The zest may stick to the beaters, so be sure to scrape them off during the mixing process.
Pour mixture evenly into chilled tart crust and bake on the lower shelf of the oven for 35-45 minutes or until the center of the filling doesn't jiggle when shaken gently. The tart will be done before the top begins to brown.
Remove tart from oven and allow to cool. Before slicing, dust the surface with powdered sugar and decorate with dried orange slices if desired.