Flakey Cranberry Walnut Tart Recipes

CRANBERRY WALNUT TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• To make the sweet dough: Place the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer. With the paddle attachment, beat the ingredients until creamy. Add flour and salt and mix until just combined. Add egg and again mix until just combined. Alternately, this can be done in a food processor. Form a disk out of the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1/2 hour. When dough is slightly chilled, lay it between 2 sheets of plastic wrap, and with a rolling pin, roll it out into a round ? about 1/8-inch in thickness. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap and flip the dough into an ungreased tart or pie pan. With the plastic wrap still on the dough, gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan. Use the rolling pin to roll across the top of the tart pan, cutting off excess dough. Remove plastic wrap and set lined pan aside while making the filling. Excess unbaked dough can be rolled out, sprinkled with sugar, and baked as sugar cookies or can be wrapped and frozen for another day.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• To make the Cranberry Walnut Filling: Melt butter and set aside. In a bowl, blend together flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the butter, and stir until well combined.
• Pour into tart shell and bake for approximately 30 minutes, until tart is light brown and the filling has set. Cool and remove tart from ring. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate. Tart keeps for about 1 week in the refrigerator. It can be well wrapped and frozen for later use.

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.

CRANBERRY WALNUT TART

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles very coarse crumbs. Add egg and stir lightly with fork just until mixture forms a ball, adding the water if necessary. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour. , Grease a 9-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Press chilled pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of pan. Line pastry shell with foil; fill with pie weights, raw rice or beans to prevent shrinkage. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Remove weights and bake another 5 minutes. Cool. , Meanwhile, for filling, combine sugar, syrup, eggs, butter and zest in a large bowl; set aside. Place walnuts and cranberries in bottom of tart; pour sugar mixture into pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden, edge of filling is firm and center is almost set. Cool on wire rack. Chill until serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

NANTUCKET CRANBERRY TART

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the cranberries, 1/2 cup sugar and almonds. Transfer to a greased 11-in. fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Place on a baking sheet., In a small bowl, beat the eggs, butter, extract and remaining sugar. Beat in flour just until moistened (batter will be thick). Spread evenly over berries. , Bake at 325° for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Refrigerate leftovers.

CRANBERRY TART

Steps:

• Crust: On a lightly floured work surface, roll pate brisee into a 13-inch round. With a dry pastry brush, sweep off excess flour; fit dough into a 10-inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Fold edges toward center to reinforce; press into sides of tart ring. Pierce bottom of tart shell all over with a fork. Cover with plastic wrap; freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Uncover and line tart shell with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges are set and golden, about 20 minutes. Remove weights and parchment and continue baking until bottom of crust is dry and golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
• Filling: Place cold water in a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over water; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Combine cranberries, sugar, jelly, and cognac in a saucepan and cook over low heat 12 to 15 minutes. Do not overcook or the mixture will become too watery; cranberries should be soft but not bursting. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Stir in gelatin and let cool completely.
• Pour cranberry filling into tart shell and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

CRANBERRY NUT TARTS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, stir together the butter and cream cheese. Mix in the flour until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• While the dough chills, make the filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, melted butter and vanilla. Stir in the cranberries and walnuts.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Press the balls into the cups of mini muffin pans so that the dough covers the bottom and sides. Fill each one with a generous teaspoon of the filling.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges of the tarts are lightly browned.

APRICOT, CRANBERRY AND WALNUT PIE

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Whisk brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large bowl to blend. Whisk in cream, melted butter, cinnamon and salt. Stir in chopped walnuts, apricot pieces and 1 cup cranberries.
• Transfer filling to prepared crust. Bake until filling is set and crust is golden, tenting pie with foil if crust browns too quickly, about 1 hour. Transfer pie to rack; cool pie completely. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover pie and store at room temperature.)
• Garnish pie with additional dried apricots, cranberries and walnuts. Serve pie at room temperature.