Cranberry Orange Tart with Gingerbread Cookie Crust

The dessert of the season has arrived.

This Cranberry Orange Tart with a Gingerbread Cookie Crust, is the definition of holiday spirit. It's got all the holiday flavors packed into one, festive recipe.

The base of this tart is made with your standard, delicious gingerbread cookie dough. No need for cookie cutters! Although, you'll have enough dough left over to make a few, cute gingerbread men to decorate with.

For the filling, we chose to make an orange curd--nothing tastes better than gingerbread with a hint of a zesty orange. To get that bright, cranberry flavor, without having to use every single gadget in our kitchen--we used our Amoretti Natural Cranberry Artisan Flavor. 

Literally all you have to do to turn this orange curd into cranberry orange curd, is add 1 & 1/2 tablespoons. That's it. In a matter of seconds you'll have a delicious, fresh, cranberry orange curd. 

Ingredients

For the Gingerbread Cookie Crust:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter softened 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 teaspoon Amoretti® Vanilla Madagascar Bourbon Water Soluble (2X)
• 1 large egg

For the Cranberry Orange Curd:

• 2 tbsp grated orange zest (roughly two, large navel oranges)
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 5 large egg yolks
• ½ cup fresh orange juice
• ½ cup butter
• 1 ½ tbsp Amoretti® Natural Cranberry Artisan Flavor

Garnishes:

• Gingerbread cookies
• Sugared Cranberries
• Sugared Rosemary

Directions

For the Gingerbread Cookie Crust:

1. Sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and baking soda together, or whisking them in a bowl. Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, cream the butter for 1 minute.
3. Add the brown sugar and cream for another minute over medium high speed until fluffy.
4. Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla. Mix until incorporated.
5. Add the flour to the bowl and stir until combined.
6. Transfer the dough to the counter, and patch it together to form a ball.
7. Wrap it in plastic and press down gently to form a disk.
8. Place the dough in the fridge.Let it sit for 2 hours or overnight.
9. Remove from the fridge, sprinkle flour on the counter. Roll out with a rolling pin until about 1/4” thick.
10. Gently transfer the now rolled out dough to a 9 inch tart pan. Guide the dough to fall into the crevaces of the pan instead of pushing them down.
11. If the dough falls apart, push the pieces back together. 
12. Once formed to the pan, place in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes.
13. Start making the curd.

For the Cranberry Orange Curd:

1. Combine orange zest and sugar in food processor.
2. Pulse to mince zest, then process until zest is as fine as the sugar.
3. Add egg yolks, orange juice, process 10 seconds.
4. With machine still running, pour in melted butter or margarine
5. Transfer mixture to double boiler and cook over low heat until thickened, about ten minutes.
6. Cool for ten minutes then add in Amoretti® Natural Cranberry Artisan Flavor.

Putting the Tart Together:

1. With the cookie crust still warm in the tart pan, pour in the curd.
2. Carefully place in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until the edges of the curd have set.
3. Remove and let cool. Place in fridge overnight for optimal setting.
4. In the morning, or before you plan to serve, decorate with the garnishes.
5. Devour.