Cranberry Curd Pie Recipes

CRANBERRY CURD TART

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.

CRANBERRY CURD PIE

Steps:

• Roll the pie dough out to 10 inches in diameter. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, trim and crimp the edges as desired. Lightly prick all over with a fork. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Place the frozen pie crust in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
• Make the curd: place the cranberries, orange zest, orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the cranberries are beginning to burst and the sugar has dissolved.
• Remove from the heat and puree with an immersion blender (or, cool the mixture to room temperature and puree in a food processor or blender). Press the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, scraping any puree clinging to the bottom of the sieve into the puree, and discarding any solids left in the sieve.
• If the mixture has cooled considerably, rewarm in the microwave. Wipe out the saucepan, and return to the stovetop (do not turn on the burner yet).
• Whisk the butter into the cranberry puree.
• In a small mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together the eggs and egg yolks. While continously whisking, add 1/2 cup of the hot cranberry puree into the egg yolks
• Place the cranberry/egg mixture as well as the remaining cranberry puree into the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture thickens.
• Transfer to a storage container to stop the cooking process and cool to room temperature. If not using immediately, place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the curd, and refrigerate until needed.
• Pour the cooled curd into the cooled pie crust. Bake for 10 minutes or until the filling is set. Remove to a wire rack to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate, loosely covered in plastic wrap, until ready to serve.
• Make the sugared cranberries: In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water over medium heat. Whisk frequently, until the sugar dissolves. Do not let the mixture boil. Turn off the heat.
• Add the cranberries to the sugar syrup, and stir to coat. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cranberries to a wire rack set over paper towels. Let dry for one hour.
• After one hour, toss the cranberries in the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar.
• Store in an airtight container until ready to serve the pie.
• Make the whipped cream: shortly before ready to serve the pie, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Sprinkle the sugar over the cream, and whip to stiff peaks, then whip in the vanilla.

CRANBERRY-LIME PIE

Steps:

• Crust:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Pulse cookies in a food processor until very finely ground (you should have about 1 cup). Add pecans; pulse until finely ground. Add butter and brown sugar; pulse to combine. Transfer to a deep 9" pie dish. Using a measuring cup, press firmly onto bottom and up sides of dish. Bake until firm and slightly darkened in color, 10-15 minutes. If crust slides down sides, gently press back up. Let cool.
• Filling and assembly:
• Bring 12 oz. cranberries, 1 cup granulated sugar, and 1/4 cup water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high. Reduce heat; simmer until cranberries burst and most of the liquid evaporates, 12-15 minutes. Let cool. Purée in a blender until very smooth.
• Cook purée, eggs, egg yolks, lemon zest, lime juice, salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tsp. lime zest in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (bowl should not touch water), stirring with a rubber spatula and scraping down sides of bowl often, until curd thickens and coats spatula, 8-10 minutes. Let cool until just warm.
• Using an electric mixer on medium-high, beat curd, adding butter a piece at a time and incorporating after each addition, until curd looks lighter in color and texture, about 5 minutes. Scrape into crust and chill until firm, about 2 hours.
• Bring 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add remaining 4 oz. cranberries and cook until barely starting to soften, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cranberries to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Chill until no longer sticky, 20-30 minutes.
• Toss remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp. lime zest in a small bowl. Toss cranberries in lime sugar. Top pie with cranberries; serve with whipped cream.
• Do Ahead
• Crust can be baked 1 day ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature. Pie (without topping) can be made 2 days ahead. Cover once filling is firm and keep chilled. Let sit at room temperature 2 hours before serving.

CRANBERRY CURD TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Add the flour, powdered sugar, and salt to a small bowl and whisk together. Melt the butter in a small saucepan (or in the microwave), add the vanilla extract and orange zest to the butter and stir, then pour into the dry ingredients and stir together until thoroughly moistened. The crust will look wet. Let cool for a few minutes until it firms up slightly.
• Press the dough evenly along the bottom and sides into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• Heat the cranberries and orange juice in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until the cranberries split. Strain through a food mill or fine mesh sieve and discard the skins. [Edit: this mixture is thick and takes some muscle to press it through a fine mesh sieve. It's easier with a food mill, but if you're struggling with this, put the mixture in a blender and then pass it through a sieve.]
• Return the strained cranberry mixture to the saucepan and add the sugar, eggs, egg yolks, butter, vanilla, and orange liqueur (if using) to the pan and give everything a good stir. Heat gently over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and registers 170°F on an instant read thermometer (this usually takes about 8-9 minutes). Immediately strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl (ideally with a pouring spout) and then pour into the prepared crust. Bake (still at 350°F) until the curd is set (it should jiggle but not slosh), about 10 minutes.
• Let cool at room temperature for about 1 hour, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill. You can serve this chilled or at room temperature.
• Add egg whites and cream of tartar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Heat sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium high heat. When the sugar mixture registers about 220°F turn on the mixer and begin beating the egg whites on medium speed. When the sugar mixture registers 240°F remove from heat and carefully pour into the mixer over the egg whites. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks. Transfer to a piping bag (or zip top bag) and pipe onto cooled tart as desired. If you want, torch the meringue with a kitchen torch. (But since it is cooked, this is totally optional).

CRANBERRY CURD

Steps:

• Place cranberries in a medium saucepan. Add water and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until cranberries have burst, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Pour cranberry mixture into a food processor or blender; blend until smooth, 10 to 20 seconds. Reserve 1/3 cup and return remaining cranberry mixture to the saucepan over low heat.
• Whisk egg yolks together in a small bowl. Slowly add reserved cranberry mixture, whisking constantly. Slowly whisk egg-cranberry mixture back into the saucepan and continue whisking until thickened and the curd coats the back of a metal spoon, about 5 minutes. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until melted and fully incorporated.
• Pour into a sterile jar and allow to cool. Curd keeps in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

CRANBERRY CURD TARTLETS

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.

CRANBERRY CURD PIE WITH MERINGUE TOPPING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven according to the pie-dough package instructions for "Baked Shell." Unroll the pie dough, fit it into a 9-inch pie plate and crimp or decorate the edges as desired. Prick the bottom and sides of the dough with a fork and bake as directed. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Separate 4 of the eggs, reserving the egg whites for the meringue. Add the egg yolks, remaining 2 whole eggs, orange zest and juice, salt, 1/3 cup of the sugar and the jellied cranberry sauce to a medium pot. Add the butter, set the pot over medium heat and cook, whisking continuously, until the butter is melted and the curd has thickened and reached a temperature of 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes. Strain the mixture into a large bowl, then pour into the cooled pie crust. Bake until the curd is just starting to set but still jiggly in the center, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Let the pie cool to room temperature, about 1 hour, then refrigerate until the curd is chilled and completely set, at least 6 hours or up to overnight.
• When ready to serve, make the meringue. Beat the reserved 4 egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in the cream of tartar and then gradually add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, a spoonful at a time. Whisk on medium-high speed until the meringue is glossy and holds a stiff peak when the whisk is lifted, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Dollop the meringue over the pie in an even layer. Use a kitchen torch if desired to brulee the top.