I know, I know, I've said that a dessert must include chocolate in order to be a real dessert. And I meant it. But with the height of citrus season upon us (at least, for those of us who obsess over making Seville orange marmalade every year - yeah, I'm one of those) I was jonesing for another way to get a good citrus fix. I wanted an orange pie. An orange tart. Something orange-y. With a crust. [caption id="attachment_1497" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Lovely galette just after being brushed with an orange sugar syrup."] [/caption] I searched and I searched to try and find such a recipe but I couldn't find one anywhere - well, I found a few blood orange tarts with The Google but I wasn't sure that it would be the same, because I've never tasted a blood orange nor cooked with one. I had, however, made marmalade, and understood the basic math behind getting all that rind and pith to an edible state: peel and pith + water + sugar + heat = tasty peel and pith. So: what the heck, I winged it. (However, please note: I'm NOT a member of the Canadian Living Test Kitchen and this isn't an official Canadian Living recipe. As you'll be able to tell from all of the asides I put into the directions.) The result was the Orange Galette above - galette may be a fancy French word but basically translates in my world to roll it out and don't have to fuss with it and looking rough around the edges is the point, not a mistake. That's my kind of pie. It was so fabulous (and so well received by my family) I made it again the following weekend! NOTE: You can do steps 1 and 2 the day before if you want to speed up the process, then just cool and then refrigerate the entire saucepan overnight. Begin the next day with step 3. [caption id="attachment_1502" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="You CAN serve it plain - but trust me, you want the cream."] [/caption] Orange Galette with Grand Marnier Cream Ingredients 3-4 oranges, preferably Valencia (thinner skins) 1 cup sugar 1 batch of single-crust pastry 2-3 tsp sugar, for sprinkling 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, for sprinkling 2 tbsp milk To serve 3/4 cup whipping or heavy cream (35% milk fat ) 3 to 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar 3 to 4 tablespoons of Grand Marnier Directions

1. Wash the outside of the oranges thoroughly and then slice the oranges across the middle of the orange (not end to end) into roughly 1/4"  slices.
2. Place slices into a medium saucepan, and add water until all slices are floating a little. Pour the sugar into the water - try to spread it around so it's not all clumped in one area. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours, until orange slices are very tender.
3. Preheat the oven to 425.
4. Remove slices from liquid and dry briefly on a single layer of paper towels. Turn heat on the liquid-filled saucepan to high - you want a rolling boil. You're going to boil it for 10-30 minutes or until reduced to roughly a third of its original volume. Once the liquid is reduced to one third, take it off heat for a minute or two and then dip a spoon in to test its thickness. It should be syrupy. If not, boil it a little longer. Keep testing every few minutes until you've got something roughly the thickness of maple syrup.
5. Meanwhile, prepare your pastry. Once made, roll it out into a rough oval about 12" in diameter (if you're me, it's kind of a rough oval/trapezoid/square but don't worry, that's the beauty of galettes, they look gorgeous even when they're not perfect!). Transfer pastry to a (preferably cold - I stick mine in the freezer) sheet pan or cookie sheet.
6. Lay a single layer of orange slices into the middle of the pastry - 6 to 8 slices. You're kind of defining here the "outside edge" of your finished pie. Brush each orange piece thickly with the reduced orange/water syrup. Sprinkle a little sugar over each slice and top the layer with just a shake or two of ground nutmeg.
7. Repeat step 6 with the remaining orange slices, overlapping where you can, until you've completed about three or four layers.
8. The fun part! Bring the rough raggedy edges of your rolled pastry up and over the oranges, folding or overlapping a little here and there where needed so it all stays put. See? No need to pretty up the sides! Brush the pastry with a little milk to help it to do nice and lovely things.
9. Bake for 13 minutes at 425 and then reduce to 350 and bake another 20-30 minutes - or until golden and lovely.
10. Allow the pie to sit for 5 minutes and then brush the entire top - oranges, pastry and all - with more of the reduced orange/water syrup. It will get shiny and lovely. Allow to cool for at least 1 hour before serving.
11. To serve: mix whipping cream, powdered sugar and Grand Marnier together in a bowl until soft peaks form. (Trust me, this last step REALLY makes it worthwhile.)

Makes 6 servings.