Grapefruit Curd and Raspberry Tart for Two
This Grapefruit Tart is perfect for a winter celebration. It’s a two-person tart filled with fresh raspberry purée and homemade grapefruit curd!
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I recently spent way too long testing grapefruit curd recipes. In other words, Chicago weather has gone from wintery weather to “You’re Better Off Just Staying Inside and Not Braving the Great Outdoors“ weather, so I’ve been staying indoors testing recipes. I’ve also been looking into places to move to, post grad school, where the weather stays solidly above freezing all year round.
Either way, I made grapefruit curd.
A lot of grapefruit curd. (Some might even say too much. Some would obviously be wrong.)
In order to deal with the unreasonable amount of grapefruit curd, I decided to develop a grapefruit tart recipe. Specifically, a grapefruit-raspberry-meringue tart that’s just too extra for words.
If you’re feeling less extra (who could blame you) then a plain old grapefruit tart would be delicious too. My version starts with a layer of raspberry purée, which is followed by a layer of grapefruit curd and then decorated with Swiss meringue and more raspberries!
Swiss Meringue – A Side Note
Swiss meringue is similar to Italian meringue but, instead of pouring a boiling sugar syrup into egg whites, you heat the egg whites and sugar in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
This process effectively cooks the egg whites, which makes them safe to eat. You can then blow torch the meringue if you feel so inclined, but you can also leave it as is if you don’t have a blow torch!
If you’ve never tried making meringue before, I’d encourage you to try it! Meringues aren’t as hard to make as they sound, and the results are delicious. Plus, if it doesn’t go to plan, the grapefruit tart is delicious without the meringue, and you only wasted an egg white and a bit of sugar.
Raspberry Purée – A very short note
Raspberries and grapefruit are delicious together so, while you can definitely skip the purée and just make a grapefruit tart, I’d encourage you to keep the raspberry element. If you’re short on time or don’t have fresh berries, then you can substitute jam instead. Just spread a layer of jam in the base of the tart and then top with the curd.
How to make this Grapefruit Tart:
This tart starts with a delightful recipe for grapefruit curd.
From there, you make a quick batch of pastry that’s perfect for a 5-inch tart ring (something like this).
Once the pastry is resting in the fridge, it’s time to make the raspberry purée. The purée is incredibly simple, you just cook raspberries, lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar in a small sauce pan.
I don’t like particularly sweet desserts (weird I know) so feel free to increase the sugar content if the purée is too tart for your tastes!
While the purée is cooking, you can bake the pastry. This grapefruit tart doesn’t go back in the oven with the filling, so you’ll need to fully cook the pastry before assembling.
Once that’s done you simply pile in the raspberry puree, a generous layer of curd and then pipe on a quick Swiss meringue buttercream.
It’s a bit of an involved recipe but if you, like me, are avoiding the cold weather and looking for something delicious then it’s a perfectly ideal recipe.
Two Person Grapefruit Tart with Raspberry Puree
Equipment
- Blow Torch (optional)
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 50 g flour
- 25 g butter
- 1 tsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2.5 tsp ice water
Raspberry Filling (optional) * :
- 100 g raspberries
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- zest from half a lemon
- 1 tsp sugar
1 batch grapefruit curd
Swiss Meringue:
- 1 egg white**
- 30 – 45 g sugar
Decoration
- A few raspberries optional
Instructions
- Make the grapefruit curd from this recipe if you haven’t already
Make the pastry:
- Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Rub the cold butter into the flour until the mixture looks like bread crumbs.
- Stir in cold water and then use your hands to gently knead the dough into a ball. Wrap with clingfilm and then refrigerate for half an hour.
Make the raspberry filling:
- Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan, cover, and place over a low heat. Cook until the raspberries are soft and then remove the lid. Mash everything together with a fork and then let the mixture cook for a bit longer until most of the liquid has evaporated off and the filling is thick.
- Taste and adjust the lemon or sugar if you think it’s too sweet or too tart (this depends a lot on the raspberries you have so feel free to adjust the ratios a bit).
Bake the pastry:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F
- Roll out the pastry and then line a small tart ring (I used a 5” tart ring). Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and then refrigerate the pastry for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the fridge, line the inside with parchment paper or tinfoil and fill with pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove the pie weights and paper and bake for another 5 minutes until the pastry is golden brown on the base.
Fill the tart:
- Fill the pastry with a layer of the raspberry filling and then a layer of grapefruit curd. Set it in the fridge while you make the meringue.
Make the meringue:
- Weigh your egg whites and place them in the bowl of a standing mixer. Add 1.5 times the weight of sugar (i.e. if your egg white weighs 30 grams then add 45 grams of sugar).
- Place the bowl over a simmering pan of water and mix with a spatula. Keep mixing until the sugar is all dissolved and the mixture reaches 165°F.
- Place the bowl in the standing mixer and whisk on high speed until the mixture has cooled and is light and fluffy.
Finish your tart:
- Pipe your meringue onto the tart in whatever decorative manner makes you happy. Blow torch the meringue to lightly brown it. Decorate with raspberries and enjoy!
So cute!