So it’s January and I’m still posting my Thanksgiving recipes…..
Anyhow, this one was actually a last minute addition to the Thanksgiving menu. There was a total of 15 of us and I realized that one apple pie and one pumpkin cheesecake would be just enough for everyone, and, of course, just you don’t want just barely enough of anything you’re serving – you want to make sure there’s plenty to go around. I wasn’t quite sure what to make that would be Thanksgiving-y, and it occurred to me that I should use cranberries seeing as how they weren’t on the main menu.
The little wheels in my brain started turning and I came up with this, a tart that is decidedly autumnal with its combination of cranberries and pears. I am a huge fan of frangipane (a mixture of ground nuts, butter, sugar, and egg – how could that possibly be bad!) in tarts, so I had to include almond frangipane for an added layer of texture and flavor (and I’m also a huge fan of fruit-nut combinations).
Although there are a number of components for this tart, all of them are very simple to prepare, and all of them (except for the pears) can be made in advance and refrigerated for at least a few days. If you go the advance prep route, it takes maybe 20 minutes to assemble before baking and doesn’t require any special technique or skill to do so. The best part is that it comes out of the oven looking completely impressive when in fact it’s really easy to put together. But don’t tell anyone that.
Cranberry, Pear, and Almond Frangipane Tart
(makes one 11” tart)
For the Pate Sucree (Sweet pastry crust)
1 ½ cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled well
1 large egg
1 tablespoon ice water
For the cranberry jam
12 oz fresh cranberries
¾ cup water
6 tablespoons sugar
1” piece of ginger cut into 1/8” rounds
For the almond frangipane
1 cup almonds
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
For assembly
3 Bosc or Anjou pears
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons warm water
***************
Make the pate sucree
Add the flour, sugar, salt, and butter to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal (some small chunks of butter should remain).
In a small bowl beat the egg and mix in the ice water. Add the egg mixture to the food processor and pulse a few times until the egg is just incorporated (the dough should be in a few clumps and not one large mass).
Transfer the dough to a work surface and divide it into 4 even pieces. Smear each piece forward with the heel of your hand to distribute the butter, then gather the pieces and form into a disk. (This technique is known as fraisage; it creates long, thin pieces of butter in the dough and makes for a very flaky crust.) Wrap the dough well in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 3 days. (Dough can be frozen up to 4 weeks; defrost in refrigerator 1 day before using.)
Make the cranberry jam
Add all ingredients to a 2-quart saucepan set over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Transfer the jam to a bowl and cool completely, the remove the ginger. (Jam can be made up to a week in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container.)
Make the almond frangipane
Add the almonds, sugar, and salt to a bowl of a food processor and pulse until the almonds are finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until the butter incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time, and pulse to just combine. Add the flour and pulse to combine. (Frangipane can be made up to 5 days in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container; bring to room temperature before using.)
Make the tart
Heat oven to 375. Let the pate sucree sit at room temperature for ~15 minutes before rolling.
Roll the dough into a 13” circle. (This dough tends to be sticky because of the egg, and I don’t like to add a lot of flour, so I roll the dough between two large pieces of plastic wrap; wax paper would work fine, too.) Lightly sprinkle the surface with flour and fold in half. Sprinkle a little more flour on top and then fold in half again. Transfer the dough to an 11” tart pan so that the point touches the center of the pan, then unfold the dough. Gently press the dough into the edge and up the sides – do not stretch the dough, as it will shrink back when baking. Use a rolling pin to go over the edges of the pan to trim off the excess dough. Prick the dough with a fork and freeze for 15 minutes.
While the crust is chilling, prepare the pears. Slice each pear in half, then into quarters. Remove the core and seeds, and slice each quarter into ½” thick slices, slicing on an angle so that all the slices are uniform in size.
Add the honey and warm water to a small bowl and whisk well to combine.
Remove the tart shell from the freezer. Evenly spread the cranberry jam on the bottom of the crust. Spread all of the frangipane on top. Arrange the pears on top. Lightly brush the pears with the honey syrup.
Bake on the middle rack until the frangipane is golden and puffy, 45-50 minutes.
Continue reading "Cranberry, Pear, and Almond Frangipane Tart"
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Cranberry, Pear, and Almond Frangipane Tart
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Pistachio Cardamom Shortbread Cookies
Happy new year! I know I’ve been totally slacking on posting regularly, but I’ve come up with a few ideas to maximize my use of time, so hopefully I won’t be as negligent on here anymore (at least not for the next few months…I also have to kick the wedding planning into high gear – I’m getting married in eight months!)
Anyway, a few weekends ago, I went on a baking bender and made tons of cookies for a friend's family's holiday party as well as to take down to my fiance's family's house for Christmas (I still can’t reconcile palm trees + Christmas lights). Among the many cookies I made were these little shortbread cookies.
I've been on a huge shortbread cookie kick lately. They're incredibly easy to make and you can flavor them pretty much any way you'd like (and doing so requires minimal effort). Recent variations have included lemon-lavender, earl grey tea, pink peppercorn rose, and spiced chocolate. These, however, are my favorite - they taste like Indian sweets, but without all the ghee and nuts.
OK, who am I kidding, shortbread cookies contain a ton of butter, but butter doesn't taste as rich as ghee. And while there are nuts in these cookies, there's not a lot, and they're not actually in the cookies so much as they're on them (I didn't want to put the nuts in the dough - I was too lazy to have to alter the recipe - so I decided to put them on the edges of the cookies - it might look like it was a lot of work, but in fact it was ridiculously simple, as you'll see below). The combination of pistachios, cardamom, and rosewater is one I've used before, and it works great in these crumbly cookies. The key to these cookies is using freshly ground cardamom - the pre-ground stuff has minimal flavor and lacks the complexity of freshly ground. If you can't find cardamom pods near you, pre-ground will work just fine, just use a little more of it. The cookies won't have the same flavor, but they'll be really good, nonetheless.
Pistachio Cardamom Rose Shortbread Cookies
¼ cup shelled pistachios
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon rose water
1 cup flour
¼ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom (from about 6 pods)
¼ teaspoon salt
*if using pre-ground cardamom, use a heaping ¼ teaspoon
Heat an oven to 350 F. Line one large or two medium-sized cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Add the nuts and 1 tablespoon of sugar to a spice grinder or small food processor. Pulse until the nuts are ground (but not too finely - you want some texture). Set aside.
Add the butter and remaining 5 tablespoons of sugar to a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the butter and sugar on medium-low speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the rosewater and mix to combine.
Sift the flour, cardamom, and salt into the mixing bowl and mix either by hand (if using a handheld mixer) or on lowest speed (if using a stand mixer) until just combined.
Spread a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter. Roll the dough into a log about 1 ½” in diameter. Move the dough to the top end of the plastic wrap, then sprinkle the ground pistachio mixture in a line down the center of the plastic wrap that is the same length as the log of dough. Roll the dough down and into the ground nuts, picking up and turning over the dough as necessary until it is evenly coated. Wrap the dough, place it on a sheet pan, and freeze for 15 minutes.
When the dough is chilled, slice it into rounds between ¼” and ½” thick and transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 1" between each. Bake until just lightly golden around the edges, about 11 minutes.
Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Continue reading "Pistachio Cardamom Shortbread Cookies"
