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A festive cranberry curd tart recipe featuring a cranberry-orange curd and swirls of Italian meringue nestled inside a homemade gingersnap crust. This cranberry pie recipe captures all of the best flavors of the holiday season!
What Inspired This Cranberry Curd Tart Recipe?
There are plenty of great recipes out there for lemon meringue pie, but in my opinion, it’s more of a summertime treat. In the cold winter months, tart, brightly colored cranberries provide a festive twist perfectly suited to Thanksgiving and Christmas.
As the weather cools down and the festive season approaches, I find myself reaching for recipes which feature seasonally appropriate flavors. I especially love cranberries, which is lucky for me because winter also happens to be the time when these vibrant red berries (both fresh and frozen) are most readily available in grocery stores. They’re a key component in popular holiday recipes such as cranberry compote, cranberry candy, and even cranberry brownies.
This cranberry curd tart, with its bright cranberry-orange filling and crisp ginger snap crust, offers the ideal balance of tartness, sweetness, and spice. Piled high with swirls of Italian meringue, this pie is an all-out showstopper.
Cranberry Tart Ingredients
To make this cranberry curd tart, start by gathering the following ingredients:
- Ginger Snaps or Ginger Biscuits – Store-bought or homemade ginger biscuits. (You’ll need about 28 to 30 2-inch ginger snaps cookies).
- Butter – You’ll need unsalted butter to make the crust as well as the cranberry curd
- Cranberries – Fresh or frozen cranberries will both work.
- Orange Zest – Zest the fruit on a microplane rather than a box grater for the finest-possible pieces of peel.
- Orange Juice – I juiced the fresh orange after zesting, but you can also use bottled OJ if you’d like.
- Sugar – You’ll need granulated sugar for the tart, and caster sugar (or superfine) sugar for the meringue. You can also use caster for the curd—just be sure to measure by weight rather than by volume.
- Eggs – You’ll need both whole eggs and egg yolks for the curd, plus egg whites to make the meringue.
- Vanilla Bean Paste – I prefer vanilla bean paste (or the scrapings of a vanilla pod) but a good-quality extract will also work in a pinch.
Tempering the Cranberry Curd
Tempering (gradually combining the hot and cold ingredients) is an important step in this cranberry curd tart recipe. Add the hot cranberry-orange juice to the cold eggs too quickly and you’re likely to find yourself with scrambled eggs, rather than a smooth and creamy cranberry curd.
Some curd recipes include a straining step after cooking. If tempered properly, your curd should not be “eggy.” You will notice small yellow pieces in the curd, but these are not egg, they’re orange zest! Don’t strain the curd or you will strain out the zest and, subsequently, the vibrant orange flavor.
Cranberry Pie Recipe Tips and Tricks
Because the ginger snap crust is crumbly and delicate, I suggest choosing a tart pan with a removable bottom. This will make it so much easier to remove the pie after baking. But while a pan with a removable bottom is best for presentation, a standard pie plate will also work if you don’t mind serving your cranberry tart in the tin. If gifting, you can also use a disposable aluminum pie plate, or an inexpensive pie plate from a local thrift store.
I recommend making the crust in a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, place the ginger snap cookies in a large sealed plastic bag and use a kitchen mallet to crush, then place the cookie crumbs in a bowl and use your fingertips to work in the cold butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
The sky-high piles of meringue mean this tart is on the sweeter side. I love the sweetness (and meringue!) because it complements the tart cranberries and the spicy ginger crust. If you prefer a less sweet tart, you can pipe delicate dollops or rosettes of meringue around the outer edge of the tart instead. If you go this route, I suggest halving the meringue recipe.
For minimal sweetness, you can omit the meringue altogether and garnish your pie with fresh fruit (such as cranberries or orange slices), sugared cranberries, candied orange peels, or a dollop of whipped cream.
You’ll need a good digital thermometer for this recipe (this one by Taylor is my go-to).
Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions
You can prepare and bake the ginger snap crust up to 24 hours in advance. Keep the baked crust in the tin and wrap in plastic wrap until ready to use.
You can make the cranberry curd up to 24 hours in advance. Transfer to a bowl and cover in plastic wrap, allowing the plastic to touch the curd to prevent a tough “skin” from forming. Use a whisk or immersion blender to “knock back” the curd, making it smooth and creamy before pouring it into the ginger snap crust.
You can also make, fill, and and cool the tart a few hours before adding the meringue. For best results, I suggest adding and browning the meringue no more than 1-2 hours before you plan to serve the pie.
Other holiday recipes you might enjoy:
Pennsylvania Dutch Sand Tart Christmas Cookies
Festive Cranberry Jelly Candies
Easy Mulled Wine with Citrus and Spices
Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Brie and Cranberry Brownies
And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me at @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!
Cranberry Curd Tart
- Total Time: About 2 1/2 hours, including chilling itme
- Yield: 1 9-inch tart 1x
Description
Featuring a homemade ginger snap crust, cranberry-orange curd, and swirls of Italian meringue, this cranberry tart captures the best flavors of the festive season.
Ingredients
Gingersnap Crust:
300 grams ginger snaps or ginger biscuits, store-bought or homemade (10 1/2 ounces, or about 30 2-inch cookies)
100 grams unsalted butter (7 tablespoons), cold and cubed
Cranberry Curd:
275 grams fresh or frozen cranberries (2 1/2 cups)
60 milliliters orange juice (1/4 cup)
150 grams granulated sugar (3/4 cup), divided
113 grams unsalted butter (1/2 cup/1 stick), melted
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks, whites reserved for meringue
15 grams orange zest (1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Italian Meringue:
180 grams caster sugar (6 1/3 ounces; about 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)
60 milliliters water (1/4 cup)
90 grams egg whites (about 3 whites)
Instructions
Ginger Snap Crust:
Spray a 9-inch fluted pie tin with cooking spray. Line bottom with a circle of parchment.
Break the ginger snaps into pieces and add to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to create a sandy texture.
Add the cubed butter and pulse until a clumpy mixture forms.
With damp fingertips, press crust mixture into prepared tin. (Depending on the size and shape of the pan you’ve chosen, you might have a small amount of the crust mixture left over.) Freeze 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 176° C / 350° F.
Place tin on a rimmed baking tray. Bake for 5 minutes.
Sit on a wire rack to cool while you prepare the cranberry curd.
Cranberry Curd:
Combine cranberries and orange juice in a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until cranberries soften and split and turn pulpy, about 10 minutes.
Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove skins, using a bench scraper or flexible rubber spatula to push the cranberries through the strainer. Scrape the bottom of the strainer to remove any cranberry juice which has collected there.
Discard pulp. Reweigh strained cranberry mixture to 120 milliliters (1/2 cup) and return to saucepan. Whisk in half of the sugar and heat on medium-low until sugar dissolves.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, orange zest, cooled melted butter, vanilla, and remaining sugar.
Temper steaming cranberry-orange mixture into egg mixture, adding a few tablespoons at a time and whisking thoroughly after each addition.
Return entire mixture to saucepan and cook over low-medium heat, stirring frequently, about 5-7 minutes or until mixture thickens. As it cooks, the curd will begin to look less red, and more orange or rust-colored.
Pour cranberry curd into crust. There should be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of room at the top.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until curd sets (it should be jiggly, but not runny.) Remove from oven and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or until curd sets, before preparing the meringue.
Italian Meringue:
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and water. Over medium-high heat, cook sugar mixture to 116° C / 240° F.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whip egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form.
With mixer running, pour hot sugar mixture into egg whites and whip until thickened and completely cool, about 5-7 minutes.
Spoon or pipe meringue onto cooled pie. Place under the oven broiler (grill) for a few minutes to brown the meringue.
This cranberry curd tart is best enjoyed on the day it is made. Wrap leftover pie in foil (or place in an airtight container) and store in the refrigerator for up to two days.
Notes
You will need a good digital thermometer for this recipe.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Freezing and Chilling Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Category: Pies and Tarts
- Method: Oven + Stovetop
- Cuisine: Dessert