Shortbread: cream butter with powdered sugar and orange zest until fluffy. Add vanilla. Mix flour, cornstarch, and salt, stir in until just combined. Press into parchment-lined pan (1/2 inch thick). B
4 steps, about 25 minutes start to finish.
Shortbread: cream butter with powdered sugar and orange zest until fluffy. Add vanilla. Mix flour, cornstarch, and salt, stir in until just combined. Press into parchment-lined pan (1/2 inch thick). Bake 325F for 20-25 min until pale gold. Cool completely.
Orange Curd: reduce 1 cup OJ to 1/3 cup. Whisk yolks, sugar, zest, and reduced juice in a saucepan. Cook over medium-low, stirring constantly, to 170F. Off heat, stir in cold butter one piece at a time until glossy. Add lemon juice and orange blossom. Strain, press plastic wrap on surface, chill completely.
Vanilla Cream: whip cold cream with vanilla bean seeds, powdered sugar, and mascarpone to soft peaks, billowy, not stiff.
Build the Fool: dollop chilled curd into cream, ribbon through with big swoops (streaky, not smooth). Spoon into glasses. Top with curd swoosh, pinch of zest, candied orange. Serve with shortbread on the side.
“Reduce the orange juice all the way down to a third of a cup so the curd tastes deeply of orange, not watery. When you build the fool, ribbon the curd through the cream with just a few big swoops so it stays streaky rather than blending into one color.”