This Nut Free Cranberry Curd Tart has a nut free sweet cookie crust and is filled with a smooth cranberry curd. The vibrant pinkish red color makes it the perfect addition to a Thanksgiving or holiday gathering, or even for Valentine's Day.
For years, I have been seeing variations of a cranberry curd tart floating around the internet, likely all originating from the New York Times recipe.
I was immediately drawn to the striking color. My family loves Cranberry Christmas Cake, so I was intrigued by the possibility of a cranberry curd filling in a tart.
Many of the cranberry tart recipes have a hazelnut crust. Due to my nut allergy, I needed to change the recipe to incorporate a nut free crust.
I decided to use the cookie-like classic tart crust from this Fresh Fruit Tart because I knew it would hold up well to being filled with curd.
For the curd portion of the recipe, I turned to the comment section for some intel on how to adjust the recipe. I incorporated several tips from reviewers into my version.
I made this tart alongside an Eggnog Pastry Cream Tart for our New Year's Eve celebration. We really enjoyed this tart! It sliced beautifully, and the color was just as I imagined.
The cranberries are sweetened with sugar and orange juice, but they are still tart like you would you expect from a curd. The buttery shell provides a sturdy vessel for the curd. If you love cranberries, you will enjoy this tart!
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Make the Tart Dough
For this tart, I chose to use a classic tart dough for the shell. It is crisp and more like a cookie than traditional pie dough. It has a good flavor and is strong enough to hold up to a curd filling. You can use any dough you prefer for the crust.
To make the dough, place an egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl.
Whisk them together and set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine the flour, sugar and salt.
Scatter the pieces of butter over the flour mixture.
Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
With the food processor running, add the egg mixture and process just until the dough comes together. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap.
Press the dough into a 6-inch disk and wrap it up with the plastic wrap.
Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 48 hours.
Bake the Tart Shell
Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If it has been longer than 1 hour, let the dough stand at room temperature until it is malleable.
Unwrap the disk and roll it out into a 13-inch round between 2 pieces of floured parchment paper. If the dough becomes soft and sticky, slip it into the refrigerator until for another 20 - 30 minutes before proceeding.
Transfer the dough to a tart pan (9- or 9 ½-inch diameter pan with removable bottom).
To easily transfer dough, wrap it loosely around a rolling pin and carefully unwrap over the tart pan. Ease the dough into the pan edges and press it into the fluted sides so that the dough extends up beyond the top edge of the pan.
Run the rolling pin over the top of the tart pan to remove the excess dough that hangs over the top edge. This should give a finished look to the top edge of the tart.
Set the pan on a plate and freeze for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven.
Set the dough-lined tart pan on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Place a 12-inch square of aluminum foil over the surface of the dough, putting pie weights inside to keep the foil on the dough surface.
Bake for around 30 minutes until golden brown, rotating half way through. Remove the crust from the oven, carefully removing pie weights and foil.
Continue baking the shell until it is a deep golden brown in color. My crust baked a little unevenly in my oven this time, but it was not noticeable when filled with the curd.
Set the baking sheet with the tart shell on a wire rack to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
If you make the shell the day before filling with the curd, cover the completely cooled crust loosely with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Keep the shell in the tart pan, as it will be baked again with the curd inside.
Prepare the Curd
Despite what I show in the photos, I recommend using non-reactive bowls, like glass or stoneware rather than metal, due to the acidic nature of the cranberries and orange. I have a sensitive palette and could detect a slight metallic taste in my curd from using a metal bowl in the first steps of making the curd.
First, put the eggs and egg yolks into a bowl and beat lightly. Set aside.
Cut the butter and set it aside to soften. It will not be added until the last step of making the curd.
Place a fine-mesh strainer and whisk over a non-reactive bowl and set aside.
Put the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, and orange zest in a saucepan.
Stir the ingredients together over medium heat.
Simmer until the cranberries have popped and softened, about 10 minutes.
Purée the cooked cranberry and orange mixture in a food processor or blender.
Pour the puree into the fine-mesh strainer set over a non-reactive bowl. Whisk the puree to force it through the sieve to strain out the pulp.
Discard the pulp that remains in the strainer.
The resulting strained puree in the bowl will be smooth.
Slowly whisk a cup of warm cranberry puree into the bowl of of eggs to temper them.
Then, whisk in the rest of the cranberry puree.
Wash out the saucepan, and return the cranberry liquid to the saucepan.
Cook over low heat until nearly bubbling and thickened, about 10 minutes, whisking to prevent sticking to the bottom and sides of the pan.
Remove the pan from heat. Whisk the softened butter into the warm liquid. Transfer to a non-reactive bowl, and cool the curd to room temperature.
Press plastic wrap against the curd to cover it. Refrigerate it overnight.
The curd may be cooked up to 1 day in advance of using.
Fill the Tart
After the curd has been sufficiently chilled, remove it from the refrigerator.
Peel off the plastic wrap, and use a small spatula to stir the curd.
Pour the curd into the cooled, prebaked tart shell, and smooth the top with a small offset spatula.
Bake the tart at 350°F for 10 minutes to set the curd.
Cool the tart on a rack. Unmold the tart from the pan, and slide the tart onto a serving platter.
Serving
Cut the tart into wedges using a sharp knife. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
Storage
Cover the tart with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Gluten Free Option
Use a measure for measure flour such as Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour in place of all purpose flour for a gluten free Cranberry Curd Tart.
📖 Recipe
Nut Free Cranberry Curd Tart
Equipment
- 1 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom
Ingredients
For the Tart Shell:
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour (6¼ ounces)
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar (2⅔ ounces)
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (very cold and cut into ½-inch cubes)
For the Cranberry Curd:
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 ounces butter
- 12 ounces cranberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup freshly squeeze orange juice (juice of 1 orange)
- orange zest (from 1 orange, no white pith)
Instructions
Make the Tart Dough:
- Whisk together the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl. Set aside.1 large egg yolk, 1 tablespoon heavy cream, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine the flour, sugar and salt.1¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour, ⅔ cup powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon table salt
- Scatter the pieces of butter over the flour mixture, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses.8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- With the food processor running, add the egg mixture and process just until the dough comes together, ~25 seconds.
- Remove the dough to a piece of plastic wrap and press into a 6-inch disk, wrap up, and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 48 hours.
Bake the Tart Shell:
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If it has been longer than 1 hour, let the dough stand at room temperature until it is malleable. Unwrap the disk and roll it out into a 13-inch round between 2 pieces of floured parchment paper. If the dough becomes soft and sticky, slip it into the refrigerator until for another 20 - 30 minutes before proceeding.
- Loosely wrap the dough around a rolling pin and carefully unwrap it over a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Ease the dough into the pan edges and press it into the fluted sides.
- Run the rolling pin over the top of the tart to remove the excess dough that hangs over the top edge. Set the pan on a plate and freeze for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat to 375°F. Alternatively, place the pan in a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
- Set the dough-lined tart pan on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and place a 12-inch square of aluminum foil over the surface of the dough, putting pie weights inside to keep the foil on the dough surface. Bake for around 30 minutes until golden brown, rotating half way through.
- Remove from oven, carefully removing pie weights and foil. Continue baking until deep golden brown in color, about 5 - 8 more minutes.
- Set the baking sheet with the tart shell on a wire rack to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. If making the shell the day before assembling the tart, cover the cooled shell loosely with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.
Make the Cranberry Curd:
- Put the eggs and egg yolks into a non-reactive bowl and beat lightly. Set aside.2 eggs, 2 egg yolks
- Cut butter into pieces and set aside to soften.4 ounces butter
- Place a fine-mesh strainer and whisk over a non-reactive bowl. Set aside.
- Put the cranberries, sugar, orange juice and orange zest in a saucepan. Stir together over medium heat.12 ounces cranberries, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ cup freshly squeeze orange juice, orange zest
- Simmer until cranberries have popped and softened, about 10 minutes.
- Purée the cooked cranberry mixture in a food processor or blender.
- Whisk the puree through a fine-mesh sieve into a non-reactive bowl.
- Slowly whisk a cup of the warm cranberry puree into the eggs to temper, then whisk in the remaining puree.
- Clean out the saucepan then return the cranberry liquid to the pan. Cook over low heat until nearly bubbling and thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from heat. Whisk the softened butter into the warm liquid.
- Transfer the curd to a non-reactive bowl. Cool to room temperature.
- Press plastic wrap against the curd to cover. Refrigerate overnight. The curd may be cooked up to 1 day ahead.
Assemble the Tart:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Transfer the chilled cranberry curd to the cooled, prebaked tart shell. Smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake for 10 minutes to set the curd.
- Cool on a rack until tart reaches room temperature. Loosely cover the tart with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Serve chilled or at room temperature, depending on your preference.
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