Brightly-hued citrus fruits form a rainbow of color across a fluffy baked ricotta filling, all wrapped in a gluten-free almond and corn flour shortbread crust adapted from Alternative Baker.
*Bay Area readers! It’s not an alternative fact that I’ll be at Omnivore Books on Sunday February 12th from 3-4 pm speaking about Alternative Baker and signing books. Come indulge in chocolate treats and pick up a copy for your Valentine (or Galentine). Hope to see you there!*
Speaking of February, January is almost over, and not a moment too soon. The past week has felt like a year. In the words of a friend, we must keep finding creative forms of resistance. I’ve officially had this song stuck in my head for the past five days – it should be driving me bananas, but instead, it’s the only thing keeping me sane.
That and all the citrus. (Also: cat purr generator.) As my friend Nora put it, citrus is winter’s only redeeming quality. That is certainly truer than ever, and luckily, while this winter hasn’t been good for much, it has been great for citrus. There are blood oranges, cara caras, navels so sweet they taste like candy. There are half a dozen different varieties of tangerines, and new kinds cycling through with each visit to the co-op. At Bi-Rite there are musky bergamots, tart sevilles, tropical finger limes and floral makruts. It’s an orgy of citrus.
I couldn’t choose just one, so I topped this fluffy ricotta tart with a rainbow of citrus supremes. The filling is made with Bellwether’s whole-milk, basket-dipped ricotta, which is rich and delicious enough to eat right out of the container with a spoon while standing over the kitchen counter. With a few scrapes of citrus zest, some mild honey, and a couple of eggs, it turns into a cheesecake-like filling.
The crust, adapted from Alternative Baker, tastes like delicate shortbread, with a boost of flavor from nutty almond flour and buttery corn flour. It’s easy to make in a stand mixer (or food processor, or with your fingers) and foolproof – no chilling, rolling, or lining necessary. Just press the crust into the pan, freeze, and bake – the sides stay resolutely in place, no shrinking or slumping ever.
With a buttery crust, fluffy filling, and all the citrus, it’s the perfect way to eat your feelings.
#LetThemEatCake? No thanks, I’d rather share this tart around while donating to the ACLU.
If you’re in need of still more sunny citrus, here are some wintery favorites from the archives:
Ricotta Crepes with Citrus, Honey, and Mint
Sparkling Citrus, Lillet, and Prosecco Punch
Blood Orange Corn Flour Ricotta Cake with Whipped Mascarpone
Beet, Citrus, and Chicory Salad with Ricotta Salata and Pistachios
Grapefruit, Ginger, and Lemongrass Sake Cocktails
Black Sesame Kumquat Financiers
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Citrus Ricotta Tart with Almond Corn Flour Crust {gluten-free}
Print Recipe / Pin RecipeIngredients
Crust:
- Cooking spray
- 1 ⁄2 cup (60 g) blanched almond flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1 ⁄2 cup (80 g) sweet white rice flour
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (45 g) corn flour (such as Bob's Red Mill)
- 2 tablespoons (12 g) tapioca flour
- 1 ⁄4 cup (50 g) organic granulated cane sugar
- 1 ⁄4 plus 1⁄8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) cold, unsalted butter, diced into 1⁄2-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling:
- 2 cups (1 pound, 455 grams) whole milk ricotta (such as Bellwether Basket-Dipped)
- Finely grated zest from ½ large lemon (preferably Meyer)
- Finely grated zest from ½ large tangerine
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup (60 ml) mild honey, plus extra for drizzling
- 1 tablespoon (6 g) sweet white rice flour
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 5 or 6 large citrus fruits (such as 1 each: tangerine, navel orange, blood orange, <g class="gr_ gr_123 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="123" data-gr-id="123">cara cara</g> orange, grapefruit)
Instructions
Make the crust:
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375ºF. Spray a 12x4-inch <g class="gr_ gr_124 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="124" data-gr-id="124">regtangular</g> tart pan (or a 9-inch round tart pan) with a loose bottom lightly with cooking spray and place on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the almond, sweet rice, corn, and tapioca flours with the sugar and salt. Scatter the butter pieces over the top and drizzle with the vanilla extract. Turn the mixer to medium-low and run until the dough comes together in clumps and the butter is worked through, 3–5 minutes.
- Dump the crumbs into the prepared pan and press the dough evenly into the pan, starting with the sides and then moving to the bottom, keeping the edges square. (It usually takes me about 10 minutes to make it look pretty.) Prick the bottom of the crust all over with the tines of a fork and freeze until firm, 15–30 minutes.
- Place the tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until pale golden and firm to the touch, 18–22 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and, while it’s still hot, press the sides and bottom with the back of a spoon. This will help it hold together when cool.
Make the filling:
- Decrease the oven temperature to 325ºF. In a large bowl, stir together the ricotta, citrus zests, eggs, honey, flour, and salt until well-combined. Pour into the warm crust and place in the oven. Bake until the filling is lightly puffed and set when you give it a wiggle, 30-40 minutes. Let the tart cool to room temperature, then chill until cold, 2 hours or up to 1 day.
Assemble the tart:
- When ready to serve, supreme the citrus by cutting the top and bottom off of the citrus fruits and use a paring knife to peel away the skin and pith from the outside of the fruit, following the curve of the fruit. Cut out the segments from the membranes, holding the fruit over a bowl to catch the juice (and drink it!). Drain the citrus segments on paper towels to absorb excess moisture, then lay the citrus segments over the tart in whatever pattern you like. Drizzle with honey, cut into slices, and serve.
- The tart is best the day of <g class="gr_ gr_122 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="122" data-gr-id="122">baking,</g> when the crust is crisp, but it will keep, refrigerated airtight, for up to three days.
Gorgeous!
This is so beautiful! Definitely just what we all need right now.
THESE COLORS! This tart is downright beautiful.
This is amazing. As are your sentiments on this alternative universe we’re living in!!
This tart looks so beautiful, colourful and delicious! Just what we need in these times, love your ‘creative forms of resistance’ concept! I’m all for that yaaay! <3
These are strange days indeed. It feels both selfish and necessary to grasp onto the small indulgences, like a beautiful tart. We’re in for a long ride here.
This is truly lovely. I have to admit I was a bit curious about ricotta and citrus together, but you have me convinced.
These look wonderful Alanna. I love the citrus fruit you’ve used here, such a gogeous colour palette.
I’m with you, January was blah, but citrus redeems a lot of things this month. Love the progression of colors in this tart!
I recently discovered how good white grapefruit can be–I guess I was always swayed by the pretty red colors of the rubies. And in an ombre pattern, so lovely!
You mentioned bergamot, so I have to ask–have you done any experimenting with it lately? I just ordered a case. I wasted a lot of last year’s case on marmalade, which I just did not like. I make curd, use the juice in cocktails (I freeze it in ice trays), and save the zest for use in all kinds of things. I have bookmarked your scones and truffles, but if you have any new bergamot things to share, I am all ears!
OMG you need to get a copy of my book! It has my three current fave bergamot recipes: buckwheat bergamot double chocolate cookies, bergamot chocolate truffle tart with olive oil and flaky salt, and bergamot lemon bars! Bergamot is so rare, I never get to nerd out with anyone about it, so thank you!! I bet bergamot creme brulee would be insane, too. And there’s a bergamot variation of my vanilla ice cream at the end of this recipe, too. :)
Be still my heart! Love your citrus ombre!!
I sooo love the colors! My mouth is watering here :)
Oh, Alanna… the past week did feel like a year, and I have a feeling the next four years will feel like a lifetime. sigh. Good thing we have gorgeous citrus fruit and baking to help us deal with life’s upheavals. This tart is just stunning with so much eye candy to distract one’s anxt, if only for a little while. Thank you for that.
Stunning! I love your book so much! You’ve given baking back to me after massive diet changes. My little sister, author of The Dirty Sifter blog gave it to me for my birthday a few months ago. I’ve had some very successful milk/cheese free experiments too! (I only eat butter now; no liquid dairy or cheese). I’m so happy to be making cookies, tarts, cakes, scones…all the noms again! You rock. Thank you. :)
Aw, so glad you’re enjoying the book Karleen! I’d love to know which recipes you adapted to be milk & cheese free. :)
Thank you! :) I’ve tried a several. Lemon Ricotta Biscuits, subbed coconut yogurt for ricotta cheese, and full fat coconut milk for heavy cream. For this one, I used Coconut Bliss yogurt – it was a bit watery and I needed to add a bit more oat flour. The biscuits turned out fantastically. Of course, I needed to make the Lemon Ricotta Biscuit Bread Pudding with Berries and Honey. Subbed full fat coconut milk for creme fresh/heavy cream, and Califa coconut-almond milk for whole milk. The Califa coconut-almond blend is nice and thick, it stands in for whole milk nicely. The Blackberry Cream Scones and the Orange Current Scones have been very successful with full fat coconut milk, they’re in regular rotation here! I find that sourcing a coconut milk without any gums or stabilizers is key to avoiding a “gummy” texture. Native Forest brand is the best, sold at Rainbow and thankfully, my neighborhood Lucky! Thai Kitchen is my second choice, it seems to have the least amount of gum. If your vegan yogurt, alt. milk, and coconut milk ALL have gums, then it is noticeable in the final recipe. Today I did the Chocolate Zucchini Cake with a raw date-cacao-matcha frosting, instead of the cream cheese. There’s no sub for real cream cheese – still I love cacao & matcha! Cheers!