Sugared Cranberry Custard Tarts Recipes

Steps:

• For the crust: Add the flour, sugar and salt to a food processor. Process a few times to combine. While pulsing, add the cubes of butter. Keep pulsing until the mixture looks like a coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons of the water and process again a few times. Add more water until the dough starts to come together. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Shape into a round and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and roll out into a large round, about 12 inches. Transfer to a 9-inch pie dish, fold over the sides and use a fork to press a design into the edges.
• For the filling: Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until uniform in color and no egg white is visible. Whisk in the sugar mixture until smooth. Add the heavy cream, vanilla and orange zest and whisk to combine. Add the cranberries to the bottom of the pie crust and pour the custard over the top.
• Bake until the custard is set with a slight wobble in the center, about 50 minutes. Let cool completely.
• For the assembly: Sprinkle the orange slices with the sugar and use to decoratively garnish the pie before serving at room temperature or chilled.

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.

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.