Cranberry Lemon Curd Tarts Food

CRANBERRY-LEMON TART

Steps:

• Make the crust: Whisk the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Work in the butter with your fingers until a soft dough forms. Firmly press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Prick the crust in a few spots with a fork. Refrigerate or freeze until firm, 10 to 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line the dough with parchment or foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edges are set, about 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and continue to bake until the crust is dry and lightly browned, 10 to 15 more minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Make the filling: Combine 3 cups cranberries, 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar and 1/4 cup water in a blender. Remove 5 wide strips of zest from the lemon using a vegetable peeler; set the strips aside. Fully peel the lemon, removing any white pith. Add the peeled lemon and 2 strips of zest to the blender and blend until smooth (reserve the remaining 3 strips of zest for topping). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium saucepan, pressing on the seeds and skins with a rubber spatula. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, whisk the whole eggs, egg yolk, cornstarch and vanilla in a medium bowl. Whisk in about 1/2 cup of the hot cranberry mixture, then pour into the saucepan with the remaining cranberry mixture, whisking. Continue to cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until the filling boils and is thick like pudding, 10 to 15 minutes. Pour into the crust, cover with plastic wrap or an inverted plate and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Make the toppings: Bring 1/2 cup each water and granulated sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the remaining 1/2 cup cranberries and 3 strips of lemon zest, then remove from the heat and let cool. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Thinly slice the zest. Put the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a shallow dish, add the cranberries and zest and gently toss to coat. Let set, 30 minutes to 1 hour, shaking occasionally to re-coat.
• Beat the heavy cream and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until medium peaks form. Top the tart with the sugared cranberries and lemon zest. Serve with the whipped cream.

CRANBERRY CURD TART

Steps:

• Make the crust: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Put hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until skins darken and crack. Put roasted nuts in a clean towel and rub off skins. Discard skins and let nuts cool.
• In a food processor, grind nuts with half the rice flour until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add remaining rice flour and salt and pulse briefly.
• Cream sugar and butter in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon for a minute or two until pale and thick. Add nut mixture and combine until dough comes together. If it seems crumbly, add 1 to 2 tablespoons softened butter or a little cold water.
• Press dough evenly into a 10-inch tart pan; use half the dough for the sides and half for the bottom. Prick bottom with a fork and freeze for 30 minutes (or several days if desired).
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake chilled tart shell about 15 minutes until lightly brown. Cool.
• While the crust bakes and cools, make the cranberry curd: Put cranberries, sugar and orange juice and peel in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until cranberries have popped and softened, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a food mill or medium mesh sieve and press cooking liquid and solids into a bowl. (Alternatively, for the most vibrant color, purée the cooked cranberry and orange mixture with an immersion blender or in a food processor or blender. Press through a fine-mesh sieve.) Whisk the butter into the warm liquid.
• Put eggs and egg yolks into a bowl and beat lightly. Slowly whisk a cup of warm cranberry liquid into the eggs to temper, then combine both and whisk together. Wipe out pot if necessary, return liquid to pot and cook over low heat until nearly bubbling and thickened, about 10 minutes. If using immediately, let cool to room temperature. If working ahead, cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap (press wrap against curd) and refrigerate. (Curd may be cooked up to 1 day ahead.)
• Pour cooled cranberry curd into the cooled prebaked tart shell and smooth top with a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes to set curd. Cool on a rack. Store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

LEMON CURD TART

Steps:

• Mix the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Press the dough into a 10-inch-round or 9-inch-square false-bottom tart pan, making sure that the finished edge is flat. Chill until firm.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter 1 side of a square of aluminum foil to fit inside the chilled tart and place it, buttered side down, on the pastry. Fill with beans or rice. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and beans, prick the tart all over with the tines of a fork, and bake again for 20 to 25 minutes more, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Remove the zest of the lemons with a vegetable peeler or zester, being careful to avoid the white pith. Squeeze the lemons to make 1/2 cup of juice and set the juice aside. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the sugar and process for 2 to 3 minutes, until the zest is very finely minced. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar and lemon zest. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.
• Pour the mixture into a 2-quart saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. The lemon curd will thicken at about 175 degrees F, or just below a simmer. Remove from the heat.
• Fill the tart shell with warm lemon curd and allow to set at room temperature.

CRANBERRY LEMON CURD TARTS

Steps:

• Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, and sugar in large microwaveable bowl. Stir in cranberry cocktail, lemon juice and butter. Microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes; stir. Return to microwave; cook until mxiture begins to boil and thickens, about 2 minutes longer. Stir until smooth. Pour through a fine strainer into bowl. Cover and chill in refrigertor. The mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for up top 1 week. Fill each baked cool tart shell with about 1 tablespoons cold curd just before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and lemon rind.

CRANBERRY LEMON CURD

Steps:

• To Make Cranberry Puree: Combine 1 cup of fresh or frozen cranberries and 1/4 cup of water in saucepan. Bring to boil and turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 3 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Transfer to blender and blend until smooth. Be careful not to blend cranberries while hot as the pressure will cause the blender lid to pop off.
• To Make Cranberry Curd: In large bowl beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light in color and smooth and creamy texture, about 2 minutes.
• Slowly add eggs one at a time at medium speed; beat for 1 minute.
• Mix in lemon juice and cranberry juice. (Mixture will look curdled).
• Transfer mixture to saucepan and cook over low heat until smooth and curdled appearance disappears. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, about 15 minutes; do not boil. Remove from heat.
• Transfer to bowl and press plastic wrap directly on surface of cranberry curd. Keeps for about 1 week.

CRANBERRY CURD TART

Steps:

• To make the crust, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Spread almonds onto a rimmed baking sheet.
• Toast almonds in the preheated oven until fragrant and skins have cracked, about 15 minutes. Let cool, about 5 minutes.
• Combine almonds, flour, brown sugar, salt, ginger, and cloves in a food processor; pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 12 (1-second) pulses. Add softened butter and pulse until combined, about 5 (1-second) pulses.
• Press dough into a 10-inch tart pan, using about two thirds for the sides and one third for the bottom. Prick the bottom with a fork and freeze for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 week.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake chilled crust in the preheated oven until lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• To make curd, combine cranberries, brown sugar, orange liqueur, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until cranberries have burst and are very soft, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. Strain back into saucepan through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on solids in strainer. Whisk softened butter into cranberry liquid.
• Whisk eggs and egg yolks in a separate small bowl until lightened. Slowly whisk about 1 cup of the warm cranberry mixture into the eggs. Add egg-cranberry mixture to remaining cranberry mixture in saucepan, whisking constantly. Place saucepan back over medium-low and cook, whisking constantly, until bubbly and thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in orange zest. If using immediately, pour into a shallow dish and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes. If making ahead, cool to room temperature and then cover with plastic wrap pressed tightly to the curd's surface before refrigerating.
• Pour cooled cranberry curd into prebaked crust and smooth top with an offset spatula. Refrigerate until set, about 3 hours. Store at room temperature for up to 2 days.