Cranberry Curd Tartlets Recipes

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.

Steps:

• Place cranberries, water, and orange juice in a saucepan, cover, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cranberries burst, about 35 minutes. Press through a fine sieve, scraping back of sieve to get all the pulp (you should have about 1 3/4 cups), and discard solids. Cook pulp in pan with butter, sugar, and salt over medium heat, stirring, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 7 minutes.
• Whisk together egg yolks and egg in a medium bowl, then whisk in cranberry mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time. Return mixture to pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 8 minutes. Pass through sieve into a bowl (you should have about 3 cups) and press plastic wrap directly on surface of curd to cover. Refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes. To serve, let guests assemble their own tartlets, or spoon curd into pastry cups and top with whipped cream.

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.