Christmas Cranberry Pear And Walnut Torte With Cream Cheese Orange Frosting Recipe Epicuriouscom

CHRISTMAS CRANBERRY, PEAR AND WALNUT TORTE WITH CREAM CHEESE-ORANGE FROSTING

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 375°F. Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Butter and flour waxed paper; tap out excess flour.
• Blend 2 cups walnuts and flour in processor until walnuts are finely ground. Add breadcrumbs, orange peel, spices and salt. Using on/off turns, process just until blended.
• Using electric mixer, beat eggs in large bowl until frothy. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar and brown sugar. Continue beating until mixture is thick and triples in volume, about 6 minutes.
• Fold flour mixture and melted lukewarm butter alternately into egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture (do not overmix or batter will deflate). Divide batter between prepared cake pans; smooth tops. Bake cakes until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer pans to racks; cool 5 minutes. Invert cakes onto racks; cool completely. Remove waxed paper.
• Toss cranberries with remaining 1/2 cup sugar in small bowl to coat. Transfer berries to plate. Cover and freeze. (Can be prepared ahead. Wrap each cake layer separately in plastic. Freeze cake layers and sugarcoated cranberries up to 1 week.)
• Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 1 cup frosting. Top with second cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of torte. Press remaining 3/4 cup walnuts onto torte sides. Arrange poached pears in concentric circles atop torte. (Torte can be frosted 1 day ahead. Cover torte; chill. Let torte stand 30 minutes at room temperature before serving.)
• Rewarm cranberry puree in small saucepan over medium heat. Brush some puree over pears. Transfer remaining puree to bowl.
• Garnish torte with frozen sugarcoated cranberries. Serve torte with puree.

ORANGE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• Beat cream cheese, butter or margarine, orange peel, and orange juice until creamy. Beat in confectioner's sugar until blended and smooth.
• Spread about 1 1/2 teaspoons on each cooled cookie. Sprinkle with walnuts.
• Let icing set 1 to 2 hours. Refrigerate in an airtight container with waxed paper between layers up to 1 week.

RASPBERRY WALNUT TORTE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Steps:

• In a small bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick and lemon-colored. Combine flour, walnuts, baking powder and salt; fold into egg mixture alternately with whipped cream., Pour into two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a small bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and salt until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Fold in whipped cream., Cut each cake horizontally into two layers. Place bottom layer on serving plate; spread with about 1/2 cup frosting. Top with second cake layer; spread with half of the raspberry preserves. Repeat layers. Frost sides of cake with frosting., Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert ribbon tip #47. Fill bag with remaining frosting; pipe a lattice design on top of cake. Using star tip #32, pipe stars around top and bottom edges of cake. Store in the refrigerator.

ORANGE CRANBERRY TORTE

Steps:

• Coat a 10-in. fluted tube pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with flour; set aside., In a large bowl, beat the sugar, buttermilk, applesauce, oil and eggs until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into sugar mixture until blended. Stir in the walnuts, cranberries, dates and orange zest., Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over cake.

BEST CHRISTMAS CRANBERRY TORTE

Steps:

• Combine graham cracker crumbs, pecans, sugar, and butter in a mixing bowl for crust. Press into the bottom and up the sides of an 8-inch springform pan. Chill.
• Meanwhile, combine cranberries and sugar for filling in a large mixing bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add egg whites, orange juice, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat using an electric mixer on low speed until frothy. Beat on high until stiff peaks form (when the tips stand straight), 6 to 8 minutes.
• Whip cream in a small mixing bowl until soft peaks (or until the tips curl over); fold into cranberry mixture. Turn into crust and freeze until firm, 8 hours to overnight.
• Stir sugar and cornstarch for glaze together in a saucepan. Stir in cranberries and water. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until bubbly, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, just until cranberry skins pop, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes; do not chill.
• Remove torte from the pan. Place on a serving plate. Spoon cranberry glaze in the center; place orange slices around the outside.

CHRISTMAS CRANBERRY GALETTE

Steps:

• Make the dough for the Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust with modifications as noted above.
• Macerate the Cranberries:
• A minimum of 1 1/2 hours and a maximum of 24 hours ahead of baking, in a medium bowl, place the superfine sugar (reserve 1 teaspoon for the border) and the light brown sugar and use your fingertips to combine them and rub out any lumps of brown sugar. Cut each cranberry in half and add them to the sugar mixture. Stir the mixture well and set it aside for 1 hour at room temperature or, preferably, overnight in the refrigerator.
• Stir the cranberry mixture well, then stir in the walnuts.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F. at least 20 minutes before baking. If not using a black pan, plan to bake the galette directly on the oven floor; alternatively, set an oven rack at the lowest level and place a baking stone or cookie sheet on it before preheating.
• Using a floured pastry cloth and rolling pin sleeve rubbed with flour, or two sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap,*** roll the pastry to a circle roughly 18 inches in diameter. Using an expandable flan ring or a cardboard template and a sharp knife as a guide, cut out a 16-inch circle. If the dough softens, slip it (still on the cloth or plastic wrap) onto a baking sheet and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes, covered, until firm before lining the pan. The pastry is too large to slip your hands under and support adequately. To transfer it to the pan, roll it loosely over the rolling pin or dust it lightly with flour and fold in quarters. Leave the overhang.
• Scatter the cranberry mixture evenly over the dough, covering a 13-inch area and leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Fold the overhanging border of dough over the outer edge of the cranberries, using your fingers to pleat it loosely at even intervals. Brush this border with a little milk or water and sprinkle on the reserved sugar. (This will give the border a crunchy texture.)
• Cut a 10-inch round of foil and place it gently over the cranberries, leaving the crust uncovered. Bake the galette for 30 minutes.
• Place a second round of foil large enough to cover the filling and the crust border loosely over the tart and continue baking for about 10 minutes more or until the bottom crust is golden brown. (Slip a small angled metal spatula or flexible knife under the edge of the tart, lifting it slightly, to check doneness.) Cool the tart on the pan on a rack for about 20 minutes or until warm. Dust with powdered sugar.
• Store:
• Room temperature, up to 2 days.
• Note:
• A half-size galette can be made using a 9-inch pan. Roll the dough less than 1/8 inch thick and large enough to cut an 11-inch circle.
• Understanding:
• The challenge with this particular berry tart is to keep the cut cranberries from drying out without underbaking the crust, which would make it soggy. The solution is to make a temporary top "crust" from foil and to bake the tart on a baking stone or directly on the floor of the oven.
• Cutting the cranberries in half and allowing them to sit with the sugar allows them to absorb the sugar. With their tough outer peel, whole cranberries would retain most of their juices, so they would not dissolve the sugar fully. This would cause the bitterness of the cranberry to stand apart from the sugar, rendering the final effect too bitter and too sweet simultaneously.
• The crust must be prepared without baking powder, as the weight of the cranberrry/nut mixture would not be sufficient to keep it from puffing.
• ***You may have to overlap sheets of plastic wrap to roll the dough large enough.