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Hi Bold Bakers!
WHAT YOU GET: Cranberry Orange Crumb Tart is a dessert that looks as good as it tastes, with flakey pie crust, a lightly spiced cranberry and orange filling, topped with a crunchy crumble.
If you’re looking for an easy holiday dessert, this Cranberry Orange Crumb Tart is the one! This recipe gets bonus points from me for two reasons: I love a great sweet-tart dessert, and I adore crumble topping!
Cranberries, a staple on many families’ Thanksgiving tables, go so well with oranges. Cranberries have a very well-known bright, tart flavor. If you’ve ever been curious, I’m sure you’ve popped a fresh one right into your mouth and puckered as soon as you bit into the fruit. If you’ve ever mistakenly bought pure cranberry juice instead of a cranberry juice cocktail, you know what kind of tartness I’m talking about, too.
The truth is cranberries, naturally, have a super low amount of sugar. To be really enjoyed, they need to be paired with a sweetener. In the case of this homemade tart, I ease down the tartness of cranberries with a fresh orange, sugar, and orange-flavored liqueur (or orange juice.)
The result is perfectly balanced, flavor-wise. But, to add some depth to this recipe, I wanted to play with different textures too, and I think I nailed it! The base of this cranberry orange tart is made with my Homemade Pie Crust, which is perfectly buttery and flakey. That crust is then filled with the cranberry and orange filling, which, when baked, becomes deliciously jammy. To finish it off, instead of another layer of pie crust, I used a classic crumble topping made with dark brown sugar and cinnamon.
My homemade Cranberry Orange Crumb Tart is the perfect amount of sweet and tart — and the perfect amount of jammy, flakey, and crumbly!
I highly recommend this refreshing dessert after a big holiday meal!
What To Do With Fresh Cranberries
While cranberry season lasts from mid-September to the middle of November, it seems fresh cranberries only appear at supermarkets around Thanksgiving.
You can use fresh cranberries to, of course, make cranberry sauce, but cranberries are absolutely wonderful in desserts as well. I love this tart recipe, but feel free to try my Cranberry Orange Cake with Lemon Glaze or my Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies!
Cranberries also freeze wonderfully. When I spot them in the grocery store, I grab a couple of bags I can just toss in the freezer for when I’m craving a dessert with a bit of tartness.
Do I Need To Blind Bake Tart Shell?
For this recipe, I used my Homemade Pie Crust recipe for the bottom part of my cranberry tart. Since the cranberry and orange filling is liquidy, I recommend blind baking your crust before moving forward to adding the filling and finishing baking.
To blind-bake your pie crust, preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C), line a baking sheet with tin foil, and set aside. Roll out your crust, line your tart pan, trim the edges, and freeze the tart pan with the raw crust for 10 minutes or refrigerate for 30. You want the tart crust to be very firm.
To blind-bake your tart crust, line it with parchment paper and add your pie weights. If you don’t have pie weights, dry rice or dry beans will work as well. The reason you use pie weights is to prevent the crust from puffing up.
Bake your pie crust on top of the baking sheet for 20 minutes. Then, remove your weights, and continue baking until the tart is golden and the bottom is dry, usually 10-15 more minutes.
Tools You Need To Make Cranberry Orange Crumb Tart
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Baking sheet
- 11-inch (28-cm) tart pan with a removable bottom
- Mixing bowls
- Large saucepan
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making A Homemade Cranberry Crumb Tart
- This recipe is for an 11-inch tart pan, but you could use a 9-inch (23cm) pie tin instead.
- Cranberries have a short season, but they freeze well. Get a few extra bags if you have freezer space to make this all year long.
- If there are cracks in the crust after you bake it, you can repair them by gently smoothing some of the crumb topping into the cracks.
- To boost the orange flavor, brush a little homemade Easy Orange Marmalade on the crust before you add the filling.
- For a nice variation, you can replace the orange with 1 cup (5 oz/142 g) of blueberries or raspberries.
- You can double this recipe and bake it in an 11×17 (28x43cm) jelly roll pan to make bars for a crowd.
- Use my Flakey Pie Crust recipe!
Need More Holiday Recipe Ideas?
- Chocolate Swirl Pumpkin Pie
- My Holiday-Essential Bailey’s Hot Chocolate
- Delectable Caramel Apple Pie
Try These Recipes!
Cranberry Orange Crumb Tart
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Homemade Pie Crust
For the Topping
- ½ cup (2½ oz/71 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (2 oz/57 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup (2 oz/57 g) butter, softened
For the Filling
- 4 cups (20 oz/568 g) cranberries, fresh or frozen
- 1 large navel orange
- 1 cup (8 oz/225 g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
- 2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur (like Cointreau) or orange juice
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- Whipped cream for serving, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
- On a floured surface, roll out the crust to ¼-inch (6-mm) thick and line an 11-inch (28-cm) tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim the edges of the crust to be flush with the pan and freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes until very firm.
- Line the crust with parchment paper and pie weights, then place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and weights and continue to bake until the crust is golden and the bottom is dry, 10-15 more minutes. Remove and set aside while the filling and topping are prepared.
To Make the Topping
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until the mixture is evenly combined and crumbly. Set aside.
To Make the Filling
- Place the cranberries in a large saucepan, then zest the orange and add this to the cranberries. Cut away the peel of the orange, then cut out the orange segments from between the membranes. Add the segmented orange pieces to the cranberries.
- Stir in the granulated sugar, tapioca, orange liqueur or juice, cinnamon, salt, and allspice, and let this mixture sit for 15 minutes.
- Bring the cranberry mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture thickens and some of the cranberries are just beginning to burst.
To Assemble and Bake
- Pour the filling into the parbaked crust and sprinkle it with the crumb topping.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, until the topping is nicely browned.
- Let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, before serving on its own or with a side of whipped cream.
- Store, loosely covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days.
I can’t get fresh nor frozen cranberries here in Mumbai. Can I use dried cranberries instead?