Sunday, November 30, 2014

Cranberry Crackle Tart ~ Tuesdays with Dorie

Per Tricia~
Team work in the kitchen involves splitting calories as well as work. 
 Nana graciously agreed to do the heavy lifting for Thanksgiving and 
delighted us with a spectacular meal. No surprise there.  We delivered 
the organic turkey from Vermont and she did the rest. Yes, we are
completely and utterly spoiled. And very thankful. 
My easy assignment ? Knock out the Cranberry Crackle Tart for the 
blog. Note to file, Nana is not a huge fan of cranberries but does make 
an outstanding orange relish with them each year. Just not tarts.
The recipe offers options regarding the type of crust to use and I chose the 
sweet tart dough (pâte sablée) for this go around. In fact, I recalled using 
Dorie's recipe for this crust before and promptly made a second batch that
 went right into the freezer. It is so easy to whip up and have on hand- 
all the more important with the holidays closing in.
crust baked, filling ready to be baked~
And even though we are all settled in our new home, I am months away 
from truly "finding" all the items stored and packed away in the process.
Case in point, my hand mixer and my pie weights. I crossed my fingers
 that the KitchenAid would do the trick for the meringue and it
thankfully delivered. For the pie weights I was more desperate creative-
 using my younger son's rock collection from several years back. 

Yes.
Yes I did. 

I have to say that I was a bit intimidated when first reading the recipe
 between the dough prep, the meringue and then incorporating whole 
cranberries -but it truly was not a difficult recipe and the results were fantastic. 
 My favorite moment was when my younger son walked into
 the kitchen and saw the finished creation. 
"Wow."
"Wow"
"Wow"
  "That's really something. What is it ?" 
In full disclosure, I had decided by the second "wow" that this was 
a "company worthy" dessert and that I had to remember this for the next 
time we have guests.  He looked completely incredulous that I could have 
caused such a creation to come out of the oven. I probably should have
 been insulted, but instead I reveled in the moment. Opportunities to 
impress do not come along as easily now that the boys are older :)

This was obviously a seasonal choice for us but the concept of mixing the 
fruit with the meringue and baking it over the crust that had been layered
 with jam is one that lends itself to change ups between the seasons. I look 
forward to playing around with this one as well as enjoying it again
 next year with the cranberries.

This marks our second recipe as we cook along with the "Tuesdays with Dorie" online group.  Please note that we do not post the recipes, per the group rules, but we do encourage others to RUN out and buy their own copy of Dorie Greenspan's "Baking Chez Moi".  Better yet, buy the book and join the group ! www.TuesdaysWithDorie.wordpress.com 

12 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures. I love the rock collection for pie weights. :) I found some dry white beans that I had had in the cabinet for too long and used them.

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  2. Nice rocks! :-) Much prettier pie weights than my tub o' dry kidney beans that I always use. Your tart looks like it turned out perfectly!

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  3. Your tart bakes up beautiful!
    And I'm so jealous of everyone's fresh cranberries, I got to make do with dried ones. But luckily, they work out great!

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  4. What pretty pie weights!! Love all your photos, and the tart is absolutely perfect, you must be so happy that it all went so well. Fun to see.

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  5. TOTALLY company worthy! I took mine to a friends for dinner and everyone raved. Nice work ladies!

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  6. Gorgeous! I love your pie weights! You should market them!
    I didn’t get the pretty peaks all over mine…I don’t know if it were the heat or the very low power hand held mixer I was using! But it was delicious and it will be gracing my table quite often!

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  7. Beautiful tart (and I love the pie weights)! I love the idea of using different seasonal fruits in it.

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  8. Tricia, You ROCK!!! I am saving this recipe for Christmas. I can barely wait.

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  9. How fun to have Thanksgiving together. And this tart looks devine!!

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  10. Agreed teamwork in the kitchen is better and so much more fun. Eva (my baking partner and 11 y/o daughter) says " I love the rock collection double use"! We used beans for the first time via candle light since our power was out. We are looking forward to seeing how the next project turns out.
    ~cheers

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  11. The tart looks stunning in that pie plate! Beautiful. Your tart looks amazing. I wish I had added more jam to the bottom of mine. Love the rocks! Genius. Happy holidays to you, Nana, and the rest of the fam!

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  12. Tricia, I love that you seconded your son's rock collection for pie weights! And your story of the incredulous reaction to how beautiful your tart was is hilarious. It really turned out beautifully. I'm glad you and Nana split duties this year. I bet you had a wonderful celebration.

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