Sunday, December 5, 2010

PPQ: Black-and-White Cranberry Tarts


It's my turn again for Project Pastry Queen, and as usual, I struggled immensely with my choice.  We've just had Thanksgiving, so I felt like everyone was over pumpkin.  It's not quite Christmas, so I didn't think a giant cake was appropriate.  Maybe something savory?  Maybe a salad?  But I just couldn't resist these pretty little tarts.  Cranberries are one of my favorite things to bake with, and let's face it.  You can't go wrong with an oreo crust and white chocolate filling.  So the choice was made.

I have to admit that I was a little surprised to see that you don't bake the crusts at all.  However, this presented a problem when it was time to remove the tarts from the pans, and after I broke one tart, I decided to just serve them in the tartlette pans.  No big deal, but I will definitely bake the crusts for 10 minutes or so next time I make them.

The cranberries are just barely cooked - really just heated through enough to absorb some sugar and cut the tartness a bit.  Left whole, it creates quite a striking dessert - especially with the contrasting colors of the black crust, white chocolate ganache filling, and bright red cranberries.  I think these would translate well into a large tart, and I plan to make one for one of the several Christmas functions we'll be attending this year.  Festive, gorgeous, delicious, and most importantly easy. 

Check back next week:  We're making grasshopper pie!



Black-and-White Cranberry Tarts
adapted from The Pastry Queen
makes 8 tarts


Crust
  • 1 (16-ounce) package oreo cookies (about 33 cookies)
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
White Chocolate-Cranberry Filling
  • 16 ounces white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 2 Tbs light corn syrup
  • 2 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup sugar
To make the crusts, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Process the cookies in a food processor until ground to coarse crumbs.  Pour in the melted butter and pulse until well-combined.  Press the mixture into the bottom of eight tartlet pans. Bake 10 minutes, and set aside.

To make the filling, place the choped white chocolate in a large bowl.  In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, butter, and corn syrup to the boiling point.  Pour over the white chocolate and whisk until smooth.

Combine the cranberries, water, and sugar in a medium saucepan and warm over low heat about 5 minutes.  Do not let the cranberries get hot enough to pop.  Drain the cranberries well, discarding the liquid.  Fold the cranberries into the white chocolate mixture and pour evenly into the tart shells. 

Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.  Remove from tart pans and serve.


5 comments:

Unknown said...

These tarts are so pretty! I'm really curious about the texture of the cranberries. I don't think I've ever made anything where I've left the cranberries whole like that. Definitely giving the recipe a go this month.

Shawnda said...

I agree - I'm going full-scale big tart on this one for our Christmas dessert. I actually did bake the crust and it unmolded pretty well. I was really excited about how the cranberries turned out in this one!

Jennie said...

What a festive tart! I ove the flavour combination going on, it'd be perfect to serve at any family gathering this season!

Tara @ Smells Like Home said...

we loved these so much! thanks for the great choice, Josie...yours turned out just gorgeous!

Jessica said...

Your tart looks beautiful!

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