That eye-popping crimson color. That silky sweet-tart cranberry curd with just a hint of classic holiday spices. And last, but certainly not least, that delicate crunch of a blissfully buttery pistachio crust.
Wow your family, your guests—or, hey, even just yourself if you’re opting for a truly socially distanced holiday season—with a dessert that’s not the usual pumpkin or pecan fave but screams yuletide just the same. Local cooking instructor Jacqui Renager’s Spiced Cranberry Curd Tart with Pistachio Nutmeg Crust is a scene stealer.
—Leona Baker
Spiced Cranberry Curd Tart with Pistachio Nutmeg Crust
Recipe by Jacqui Renager of Fun in the Kitchen with Jacqui | CookingwithJacqui.com
Crust
1 ¼ cup shelled pistachios
1 cup almond flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp grated fresh nutmeg
½ cup sugar
6 tbsp softened butter
In a food processor, grind nuts with half of the almond flour until mixture resembles course cornmeal. Add the rest of the almond flour, salt, and nutmeg and process briefly to combine. Cream the butter and sugar in a medium bowl with a hand mixer until pale and thick. Add nut mixture and combine until dough comes together. It is OK if it is a little crumbly. As long as when you pinch some together with your fingers and it sticks to itself, it is ready. Spray an 8-inch tart pan (with removeable bottom) with a pan coating and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Press dough evenly into your pan up the side first and then the bottom. Prick with a fork and freeze for 45 minutes. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Baked chilled tart for about 15 minutes, turning once at the midway mark. Cool completely.
Cranberry Curd
1 lb fresh cranberries
1 ¼ cup sugar
1/8 tsp grated fresh nutmeg
¼ tsp cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
Juice of three clementines
Peel of 1 clementine
1 stick of softened butter
2 eggs plus 3 egg yolks
Put cranberries, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, clementine juice, and peel in a saucepan and heat over medium heat until the cranberries have softened and most of them have popped. Transfer mixture to a blender and process until smooth. Press mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Whisk the butter into the warm liquid. Put eggs and yolks into a medium size bowl. Whisk gently. Slowly whisk a cup of the warm cranberry liquid into the eggs to temper, then add the remaining cranberry liquid and whisk until smooth. Pour the egg/cranberry liquid mixture into a medium saucepan and heat over low to medium low heat until the curd has thickened (should take between 12-14 minutes), stirring constantly. Be patient with this part. Turning up the heat will only cause your eggs to curdle and make cranberry scrambled eggs. Once this happens, you have to start over! Just give it time and it will come together beautifully. Cool curd on the counter for about 30 minutes.
Pour curd into crust and bake tart for 12 minutes to set the curd. Cool completely. Tart can be left out on the counter in cake dome or put in the refrigerator.
