Cranberry Meringue Tart

Food-Header-1

CranMer

This cranberry meringue tart is the brainchild of Dorie Greenspan, my hero! It’s a pre-baked crust, with a thin layer of cherry preserves, filled with a cranberry studded meringue, and baked until the surface is crunchy. The sweetness of the meringue contrasts nicely with the tartness of the cranberries. It’s a light dessert that’s perfect after  two helpings of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green bean casserole. You may as well add a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream – just make sure you’re wearing your Thanksgiving pants! 

For the crust:

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 9 tablespoons butter, cold and cut up into small pieces
  • 1 large egg yolk

For the filling:

  • 2 tablespoons cherry or raspberry jam
  • 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups cranberries

1. Put flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix up. Add the butter and pulse until it’s incorporated. Break the yolk and add it in three additions. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and use the palm of your hand to finish blending the ingredients, and shape into a disk.

2. Place dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll to 1/8″ thick. Still sandwiched between the papers, slide onto a baking sheet and freeze for an hour. Pull out of the freezer and let it rest for 10 minutes. Remove paper and ease the dough into a 9″ buttered pie plate. Trim the excess dough even with the edge of the pan. Prick the crust all over with a fork and freeze for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 400º. Butter the shiny side of a piece of foil and fit the foil into the crust. Fill with dried beans and bake for 25 minutes, then remove the beans and foil. Bake for another 8 to 10 minutes. Set pie pan on a rack to cool.

4. Preheat oven to 300º. Spread the jam into the bottom of the crust. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the eggs whites and salt until they turn opaque. With the mixer going, add the sugar in a slow steady stream, beating until the whites are shiney and form peaks. Pour the cranberries into the bowl and fold in gently with a spatula.

5. Spoon meringue into the pie plate, spreading it to the edges. Bake for one hour. Let cool on a wire rack. Store at room temperature. This pie is best the same day that it’s made and it’s still pretty tasty the following day.

This entry was posted in Lovin' from the Oven, News and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.