Champagne Citrus Tart

There's something so special about champagne desserts! Desserts with champagne are all about luxury, decadence, and celebration! As such, let's make a toast to celebrate this Champagne Citrus Tart!

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This Champagne Citrus Tart has an orange-scented sweet pastry crust filled with champagne pastry cream and topped with a rainbow of champagne-glazed citrus! A mimosa in dessert form! This glazed fruit tart is amazing for dessert, but would also be a beautiful addition to any brunch!

If you enjoy champagne desserts, you should also check out my recipes for my Chocolate Champagne Cake, Chocolate Champagne Truffles, and Mimosa Cupcakes!

Ingredients for Champagne Citrus Tart

Ingredients for Champagne Pastry Cream:

• Half and Half - For smooth creaminess!
• Sugar - For sweetness.
• Vanilla Bean Paste - For wonderful vanilla flavor and beautiful black flecks in the pastry cream!
• Salt - Helps to balance and enhance the flavor of the pastry cream.
• Egg Yolks - SIX egg yolks for extra richness!
• Cornstarch - To help the pastry cream to thicken.
• Vanilla Extract - For flavor.
• Unsalted Butter - For richness and flavor.
• Champagne Reduction - For flavor! Reduced so that you get maximum flavor with a minimum of added liquid.

Ingredients for Tart Crust:

• Unsalted Butter - For moisture and richness; unsalted so you control the amount of salt in the recipe.
• Sugar - For sweetness and keeping the crust moist.
• Salt - Helps to balance and enhance the flavor of the crust.
• Egg - For moisture and structure.
• Orange Zest - For amazing, fresh flavor!
• Pastry Flour - Pastry flour ensures a very tender crust! If you choose not to use pastry flour, you can use all-purpose flour, but the crust will not be as tender.

Ingredients for Champagne Glazed Fruit:

• Champagne (sparkling white wine) - For delicious flavor!
• Sugar - For sweetness and to promote a syrupy consistency to the glaze.
• Assorted Citrus - I used meyer lemons, navel oranges, cara cara oranges, ruby red grapefruit, and blood oranges. You can use whatever citrus you prefer!

How to Make Pastry Cream

Pastry cream is one of my favorite things! I just loooove the subtle sweetness and creaminess of it, and the touch of champagne flavor is outstanding! To make the champagne pastry cream:

• Pour champagne/sparkling wine into a small saucepan. Cook until mixture is reduced to about 2 tablespoons liquid. Mixture will be syrupy. Cool 10 minutes.
• Combine milk, cream, ¼ cup sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat to a boil, then remove from the heat.
• In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, ¼ cup sugar, and egg yolks. Whisk until smooth.
• Pour some of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the cream and egg mixture into the saucepan with the cream mixture.
• Cook pastry cream, stirring constantly, until it just starts to boil. Mixture will thicken as it cooks.
• Remove the pan from the heat and whisk the pastry cream until it cools slightly. Beat in butter, vanilla extract, and champagne reduction.
• Pour the pastry cream into a bowl. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

How to Make the Fruit Tart Crust

The tart crust is easy to put together, but does require some chill time for best results! To make the crust:

• Combine butter, sugar, and salt. Mix until light and fluffy.
• Add egg and orange zest, mixing to incorporate.
• Add the pastry flour. Mix just until the dough starts to come together.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until the dough is smooth. Form the dough into a disk, wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes.
• After the dough has chilled, place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough to about ⅛" thick and about 1" larger than the tart pan you are using.
• Dock the dough (poke holes in it all over) with a fork and freeze 20 minutes.
• Remove crust from the freezer, line with foil or parchment paper, and fill with pie weights.
• Bake, then allow crust to cool completely on a wire rack.

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How to Make Champagne Glaze

The last step is making the glaze! To make the champagne glaze:

• Pour champagne/sparkling wine and sugar into a small saucepan. Heat to boiling, and cook until reduced to about 2 tablespoons liquid. Mixture will be syrupy.
• Fill cooled crust with pastry cream, smoothing the top. Top with citrus slices (I cut off the peels), then brush the fruit with the glaze.

Frequently Asked Questions

Goodbye, citrus season! Thank you for brightening chilly days! On to spring and summer baking...I'll be sure to let you know what I come up with! 🙂

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Champagne Citrus Tart

Amee

This Champagne Citrus Tart has an orange-scented sweet pastry crust filled with champagne pastry cream and topped with champagne-glazed citrus! A mimosa in dessert form!

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 55 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Chill Time 1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Course Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine Tarts

Servings 8 slices

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark while you bake!

Ingredients

  

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Champagne Reduction:

• ▢ ⅓ cup champagne (white sparkling wine)

Champagne Pastry Cream:

• ▢ 2 cups half and half (or 1 cup whole milk + 1 cup heavy cream)
• ▢ ½ cup sugar, divided
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (see note)
• ▢ pinch salt
• ▢ 6 egg yolks
• ▢ ¼ cup cornstarch
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, diced and softened (½ stick)
• ▢ 3 tablespoon champagne reduction

Sweet Pastry:

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ▢ ¼ cup sugar
• ▢ pinch salt
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ 2 tablespoon orange zest (from one orange)
• ▢ 1 ½ cups pastry flour

Champagne-Glazed Fruit:

• ▢ 1 cup champagne (sparkling white wine)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon sugar
• ▢ assorted citrus, sliced (see note)

Instructions

 

Champagne Reduction:

• Pour champagne into a small saucepan. Over medium-high heat, reduce champagne to about 2 tablespoons in volume. Reduction will be syrupy.
  

For Pastry Cream:

• In a medium saucepan, combine half and half, ¼ cup sugar, vanilla bean paste (see note), and salt. Cook mixture oven over medium heat until it reaches a boil. Remove from the heat.
• In a small bowl, combine egg yolks, cornstarch, and ¼ cup sugar. Whisk until smooth.
• Using a measuring cup, pour about one cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. This step tempers the eggs. Once the mixture is combined, pour the tempered egg mixture into the saucepan with the cream mixture.
• Cook pastry cream over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it just starts to boil. Mixture will thicken as it cooks.
• Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk the pastry cream until it cools slightly. Beat in butter, vanilla extract, and champagne reduction.
• Pour the pastry cream into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic, pressing the wrap to the surface of the pastry cream to ensure it doesn't form a skin. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

For Pastry:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, sugar, and salt. Mix on low speed just until combined, then increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add egg and orange zest, mixing to incorporate. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the pastry flour. Mix just until the dough starts to come together.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times (the more you handle the dough, the less tender it will be!) until the dough is smooth. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Grease a 9" tart pan (see note). Set aside.
• After the dough has chilled, place on a lightly floured surface. Roll to about ⅛" thick and about 1" larger than the pan you are using.
• Roll dough up onto the rolling pin, position next to pan, and then unroll the pastry into the pan. Avoid stretching the dough, as it can cause it to shrink while baking. Trim the edges of the dough. Patch any tears or holes in the dough with the excess.
• Dock the dough (poke holes in it all over) with a fork and freeze 20 minutes. While the dough is chilling, preheat oven to 375° F.
• Remove crust from the freezer, line with foil or parchment paper, and fill with pie weights (see note).
• Bake crust 18 minutes, then remove the foil/parchment and pie weights. Return to the oven to bake an additional 8-10 minutes, or until golden. Allow crust to cool completely on a wire rack.

For Glaze:

• Pour champagne/sparkling white wine and sugar into a small saucepan. Heat mixture to boiling, stirring occasionally. Cook until mixture is reduced to about 2 tablespoons liquid, 10-12 minutes. Mixture will be syrupy. Cool 10 minutes.

For Assembly:

• Fill cooled crust with pastry cream, smoothing the top. Top with sliced citrus slices (I cut off the peels) and brush with the champagne glaze.

  Enjoy!

Notes

Note on vanilla bean paste: If you'd like to substitute the vanilla bean paste, you can use the contents of one vanilla bean, or you can add additional vanilla extract at the end of cooking the pastry cream. That said, I highly recommend the vanilla bean paste, as it has better flavor than extract, and is more convenient (and cheaper!) than whole beans. If you can't find it at your local grocery store, you can find it online (see link here).

Note on pastry flour: Pastry flour ensures a very tender crust! If you can't find it in your local grocery store, you can find it online (link here). If you choose not to use pastry flour, you can use all-purpose flour, but the crust will not be as tender.

Note on pan: I used a 9" round tart pan with removable bottom (like this one here). You can choose to make any size or shape tart that you like. If you're making smaller tarts, the crust will bake in less time!

Note on pie weights: Pie weights help when blind-baking a crust, helping to keep the dough from rising/getting bubbles as it bakes. This makes sure that you have the room that you need for filling. You can buy actual pie weights if you'd like (like these here), but I just use black beans. They're cheap and you can use them over and over again.

Note on citrus: I wanted many shades of red/orange/yellow for this tart, so I chose a variety of citrus: a blood orange, pink grapefruit, cara cara orange, navel orange, and meyer lemons. You can use whatever citrus you prefer!

Note on assembly: If you won't be serving the tart within a few hours, you're best off to wrap the crust tightly in plastic, store the pastry cream in the refrigerator, and assemble closer to time to serve. The pastry cream and juices from the fruit will make the crust soggy over time.

Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is only an estimate.

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