Cranberry, Almond, and Cinnamon Tart
Photo by Denice Rovira Hazlett, copyright 2013Okay. I'll admit it. I'm a magazine junkie. I used to allow myself a magazine during each grocery shopping expedition until I started discovering my favorite ones at the local thrift store for a dime each. Magazines, of course, were the original Pinterest--lots of great ideas, recipes, outfits and stuff that you'll probably never create/make/wear/buy, but just browsing throughit all provides a nice dose of inspiration.
A few years ago (2007, to be exact), I saw this Cranberry, Almond, and Cinnamon Tart in a Martha Stewart magazine. As things usually go with stuff I find in magazines, I either make it right away, tear it out and promise I'll make it later, or add the issue to one of the ever-growing stacks. The cranberry tart made it into the "tear out and promise" category.
This year, as I was putting my Thanksgiving menu together, the tart recipe turned up and made the list. Oh. My. Word. It was so amazing. I had a hard time finding cranberry preserves in this little 5,000-horse town, but when we went to the "big city," the grocery store carried Smuckers Lakeside Raspberry Cranberry Preserves which fit the bill very nicely.
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Cranberry, Almond, and Cinnamon Tart
A stunning fall tart with a towering frangipane filling is crowned with cranberry jewels.
Serves 8
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (5 1/4 ounces) fresh cranberries
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon water
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 Pate Brise crust
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
8 ounces cranberry jam or preserves
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) whole almonds, finely ground in a food processor
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
Put fresh cranberries, 1/3 cup sugar, and the water into a saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring to dissolve sugar, until cranberries have just softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool completely.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 12-inch circle, 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Transfer to an 8-by-2-inch springform pan, pressing crust into bottom and up sides. Trim excess flush with rim. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prick tart crust all over with a fork.
Cut a 12-inch round of parchment, and place on top of chilled crust. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove weights and parchment, and brush crust lightly with egg white. Return to oven, and bake until pale golden, about 25 minutes. Refrigerate remaining egg white.
Let crust cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Raise oven temperature to 375 degrees. Spread jam over bottom of tart crust.
Beat butter and remaining 1/2 cup sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat in vanilla.
Reduce speed to medium. Slowly add ground almonds, cinnamon, and salt, and beat until just combined.
Spread mixture over jam-covered crust.
Bake tart until filling is set and has darkened slightly, 45 to 50 minutes. (If top darkens too quickly, cover loosely with foil.)
Remove tart from oven, brush top with egg white, and sprinkle with sugar.
Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes more.
Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
Remove from pan, and top with candied cranberries.
© 2013 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. All rights reserved.