Why Did My Bitter Orange Tart Filling Not Set? | Ask Nigella.com (2024)

FAQs

Why Did My Bitter Orange Tart Filling Not Set? | Ask Nigella.com? ›

If the filling is runny and flowing out of the tart when you cut into it, then it is likely that the curd was not cooked for quite long enough. You need to be patient when cooking citrus curds as if you heat the mixture too quickly then it can curdle and become lumpy. You need to keep a low heat and stir constatntly.

Our answer

If a curd is too thin then it usually means that it has not cooked for long enough. With a curd the heat needs to remain fairly low and sometimes you need to be a little patient. Don't whisk too vigorously while the curd is cooking, just stir gently and constantly.

Why is my curd not thickening? Orange curd is usually too thin if it hasn't been heated for long enough.

A custard with both eggs and starch needs to be thoroughly cooked. The reason is that yolks contain an enzyme which liquidifies starch. It doesn't happen outright, but will happen while your tart is cooling. The only way to prevent it is to heat the mix high enough so the enzyme is deactivated.

This fruit isn't typically eaten raw, since its natural state is too sour and has a bitter aftertaste. However, you can use sour oranges to make a tasty marmalade, tea, or juice. Experiment with a variety of uses for sour orange juice, such as in salad dressing or as a marinade.

Flour as Pie Filling Thickener

Teaspoon for teaspoon, you will need to use about twice as much flour as you would cornstarch or tapioca to achieve the same thickening effects. Adding too much flour to your pie filling will turn it cloudy and pasty, with a distinctly floury taste.

It may be running too cool and not be sufficiently hot for the custard magic to take place. Employ the pie-shield solution to save whatever dessert is already in there, and then get yourself a reliable oven thermometer to ensure proper preheating in the future.

Carefully pour your filling into your cooled (or slightly warm) tart shell and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling has set. To test, gently jiggle the tart pan- if the centre of the tart jiggles slightly, the tart is done.

It's likely your measurements were off and you either added too much lemon juice or not enough egg. You may not have heated the lemon curd to the proper temperature. Using a thermometer is a great way to ensure that you are cooking the egg to the point of thickening – 170 degrees F.

Why is my lemon tart runny? If your lemon tart is runny, the mostly likely cause is not cooking the filling long enough. It should be nicely thickened when you pull it off the stove.

What do you do with a bitter orange? ›

Bitter orange is incredibly sour, and few people enjoy eating fresh bitter orange without sweeteners or seasoning. In Mexico, a common way to prepare bitter orange is to cut the orange in half, salt it, and then coat it with hot chili paste before eating it. Another option is to make bitter orange marmalade.

Add some sweetness.

If you find your orange juice could use a bit more sweetness, feel free to use sugar, honey or a sweetener of your choice. If you don't mind salt, you can also try adding a pinch of it to the orange juice. The salt should help to bring out the orange juice sweetness.

While the raw pulp is not edible, bitter orange is widely used in cooking.

Butter tarts that are runny may be underbaked or may not contain enough egg. Eggs help thicken and stabilize butter tart filling while it bakes, which is why I've included two whole eggs in my recipe to ensure the filling is thick and fully set once baked.

In order for a successful gelling of a starch in the recipe, the enzyme has to be killed by cooking the custard almost to boiling (a little less than 212 degrees F). Otherwise the left-over enzymes digest all of the nice firm starch gel and your custard is nothing but liquid.

The most common downfall when learning how to make pastry cream is not cooking the custard for the right amount of time. If the mixture doesn't come to a full boil, the cornstarch won't thicken properly. The result is a thin, soupy pastry cream.

Once again, this will happen if the water evaporates out of the pastry before the heat can set it in shape. This will result in the all-too-common side collapses for blind baked tarts. So to recap – go easy on the water, chill until firm, and heat your oven to 180-200C to set your shape.