Cranberry Curd Tart with Almond Crust

 24 December 2020

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, November 2020

I was drawn to this recipe by the vibrant red color of the cranberry curd. I don't recall ever seeing food so red before, other than beets. We have some experience using cranberries in dessert, a cranberry apple crisp with the cranberries providing tartness to complement the sweet apples and topping. But it was primarily because of the color that I made this tart as our Christmas day dessert.

The curd filling and almond crust were made separately. For the curd, 16 ounces of cranberries were boiled with water, sugar, and salt until they burst. The hot cranberries were placed into a food processor and a mixture of egg yolks with cornstarch was added. This was processed until smooth and then allowed to cool to 125°. For the crust, almond flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt were mixed in a bowl. Melted butter and almond extract were added and stirred to form a uniform dough. The dough was pressed by hand into the bottom and sides of a tart pan (with removable bottom) and baked for about 20 minutes at 350°. Once the cranberry mixture had cooled, butter was added and processed until smooth. The mixture was strained. A few tablespoons of the mixture were mixed with heavy cream and refrigerated. Most of the purée was poured into the crust (it barely fit) and refrigerated until we were ready to eat it the next day. (Alternatively, it could have rested for 4 hours at room temperature.) The heavy cream was whipped and piped onto the tart for decoration. Total time, excluding the 4-hour rest, was 2 hours.

Diane and I disagreed: she likes this cranberry tart better than the apple-cranberry crisp, I prefer the crisp. The tart has a delicious crust and a filling that is neither too sweet nor too tart. It keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days as does the whipped cream, stabilized by the addition of a little cranberry. We do agree that my piping skills leave much to be desired. It us unfortunate that the recipe requires 16 ounces of cranberries when a bag is 12 oz. I don't know if I will be making this again, but it is good enough to eat again and is certainly one of the most visually striking things I have ever made.