Cranberry Ginger Bark Food

CRANBERRY TANGERINE AND CANDIED GINGER TART WITH CARDAMOM CRUMBLES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• For the tart dough: Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Add the cold butter and toss to coat. Pinch the butter and flour together until the butter is flaky. Start to rub in between your fingers until it looks like coarse cornmeal.
• In the center of the bowl pour the cream. Using a rubber spatula, turn the flour over in the bowl repeating until the cream is absorbed. With your fingers press the dough to form a compact disc. Remove the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill, about 1 hour.
• Working quickly, roll the dough into a 13-inch circle and carefully place it into a greased 10-inch tart pan. Gently fold the excess dough against the sides creating a reinforced crust. Press down the dough, trimming if there is extra that extends beyond the pan. Chill for an additional 30 minutes.
• Place kitchen parchment paper over the chilled dough, fill with weights, beans or raw rice are prefect. Bake, 15 to 18 minutes. Reduce the oven temperate to 350 degrees F. Carefully remove the parchment and continue baking until the tart shell is golden brown and fully baked, 10 to 12 minutes. Set aside and allow to completely cool.
• For the cardamom crumbles: Begin the cardamom crumbles in a bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, with the sugar and tangerine zest. In the palms of your hands, rub together the sugar and zest to release the tangerine oils. Add the flour, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and salt and mix at medium speed until small clumps of dough form. Dump onto a sheet pan. Chill until needed. This can be made up to 2 days ahead.
• For the cranberry tart: In the palms of your hands, rub together the sugar and zest in a large bowl. Add the cranberries, candied ginger and brown sugar and toss well. Fill the baked tart shell with the cranberries, top with the cardamom crumbles and bake until golden brown and the cranberries begin to bubble up through the crumble, 45 to 50 minutes.
• Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. I prefer waiting an hour or longer before cutting the tart. This gives the very juicy cranberries time to cool, allowing the tart to set up. I've even let it sit all night on the counter.

FRUIT AND NUT BARK (APRICOTS, ALMONDS, CRANBERRIES & GINGER)

Steps:

• Melt chocolate in a large double-boiler over just simmering water until barely melted. You want to avoid needing to re-temper the chocolate.
• Stir in the fruits and nuts. Pour out onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Let cool completely. Break into pieces and serve.

STICKY CRANBERRY GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9-inch square or round baking pan with parchment.
• In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir together cranberries, granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Stir the cranberries over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and cranberries form a sauce that is syrupy and bubbling thickly, about 10 minutes. Aim to have about half the cranberries broken down, with the remainder more or less whole.
• In a separate saucepan, stir together the butter, brown sugar, milk, maple syrup and molasses over medium heat. Bring it to just barely a simmer and then remove it from the heat. Do not let it come to a boil, or the mixture may curdle.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, baking soda and black pepper. Beat in the butter-maple syrup mixture and then beat in the eggs. Stir in the ginger.
• Scrape the batter into the pan. Drop fat dollops of cranberry sauce onto the surface of the cake batter. Drag a long, slender knife through the batter in a swirly design, as if you are marbling a cake. Transfer the cake to the oven and bake it until the top is firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire baking rack and let the cake cool completely before eating it.