This lovely confection comes to us courtesy of MY lovely confection, my wife. We are quite swimming in cranberries these days up here in “Pilgrim Country”, the bogs are flooded, the harvest is on, and big bags of our local tart treats can be found on every corner.
When we had our neighbor, Richard (who used to be in the cranberry biz) to dinner the other night, I thought I’d use the occasion to kick off our cranberry cooking season with a bang. I was originally planning to cook a chocolate – cranberry tart that I had found on Epicurious, until my lovely reminded me that Richard is not a big fan of chocolate (a little factoid that I continually forget, most likely because I find the notion so utterly preposterous….”you don’t like chocolate, huh….you ARE joking aren’t you?“) When I shared this little bit of trivia with Muppet, tears welled up in her eyes…“that poor poor man, I can’t imagine not liking chocolate. You don’t think he’s contagious, do you? Because if he is, he has to go home now…and I mean RIGHT NOW!”
This is a recipe that Chris has been making for many years, so many years in fact that she can’t remember exactly where it came from (glad I’m not the only one around here with memory issues). It’s the easiest tart you’ll ever make, with a knock-out crust and a tart sweetness that is addictive.
Muppet reluctantly (hey, given that there’s not chocolate in this dessert, you didn’t expect her to be too excited to help, did you?) helped me by making the crumble and seasoning the berries while I was rolling out the tart dough that I had prepared and refrigerated a few hours earlier. Her ultimate critique, proclaimed after she snarfed down a piece slathered in fresh whipped cream, was a big smile and two-thumbs WAY UP!
This would be a terrific addition to your Thanksgiving spread, serve it with freshly whipped cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or maybe even a dollop of some crème fraîche with a little orange zest mixed in for good measure.
Cheers – S
Ingredients
For the pastry crust:
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
- ¼ cup whipping cream
For the crumb topping and berry filling:
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups sugar, divided
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 6 cups (typically 2 bags) fresh cranberries
- zest of 1 orange
Instructions
For the pastry crust:
- In the bowl of a food processor, blend the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together with quick pulses. Cut the butter into 1-inch slices and put them in the processor. Pulse the machine to blend the butter and dry ingredients until they form a coarse meal. Add the cream through the feed tube, and pulse a few more times until the dough starts to look more crumbly than powdery, though it will still be very dry looking (in other words, don't run the process until it clumps together). Dump the dough mixture out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and press to form a disc. Wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight. Don’t wash your measuring cups or food processor yet; you’ll use it for the crumb topping.
- Set the oven to 425℉, setting rack to the lowest position.
- Let the pastry disc sit on the counter for a bit to warm, then roll into a 12-inch circle. Use parchment on both sides of the dough to roll it out. Occasionally peel back the parchment and sprinkle very lightly with flour when you have a hard time getting the dough to spread. Note that the dough will eventually be very thin and hard to handle! Remove the top parchment, fold dough in half and, peeling off bottom parchment, unfold into a 10" x 1" removable-bottom tart pan. Center the dough in the pan. Lift the edges so the dough falls into the bottom of the pan. Press the dough into the sides and trim the edge against the rim of the pan. Refrigerate as you prepare the filling.
For the crumb topping and berry filling:
- Crumb: Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes and place it in the food processor with the flour, baking powder, and 1 cup of sugar. Pulse a few times until the mixture looks crumbly. Remove mixture into a bowl and stir in the chopped walnuts.
- Berries: Rinse the cranberries, removing any stems and over/under ripe berries. Let them drain for a few minutes, and spread them onto a clean dish towel. Cover with the sides of the towel (or another towel if necessary) and gently blot the extra water off of them. Combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar with the salt and orange zest in a bowl; add the cranberries and toss to coat them.
Assemble and bake the tart:
- Spoon the cranberries into the prepared tart shell, mounding them slightly in the center. Spoon the crumb mixture on top of the fruit. Since the tart can bubble over the sides, place the tart on top of a baking sheet before placing it in the oven. (Optional: Place a sheet of parchment between the pan and the baking sheet if your baking sheet isn’t easy to clean.) Bake in the center of the rack in the lowest position until the top is golden brown and the fruit bubbles a little around the edges, about 40-45 minutes. Check the tart at 35 minutes to see If your tart looks like this already. Remove it and let it cool at least 45-60 minutes before serving.