Cranberry Orange Chocolate Tart

First Monday of December, and I am in full holiday baking mode!

I’m starting the month off with this festive cranberry curd tart, made with chocolate graham crackers and a cranberry curd with orange juice and zest and topped with sugared cranberries!

This showstopper tart is sour and sweet and a great quick dessert to make for any holiday party.

Cranberries tend to be just a Thanksgiving time kind of berries, but since they are so good for you, I am on a mission to try to use them all year round. Thinking about adding them to a nice pork roast or even to a grain bowl If you have any ideas, let me know, and we will try them together!

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Ingredients 

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups of graham crackers crumbs

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling

• 8 oz. fresh or frozen (thawed) cranberries, plus 4 oz. for topping

• 1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for topping

• 2 large eggs

• 1 large egg yolks

• 1 tsp. finely grated orange zest

• 1 tsp. finely grated lime zest, divided

• ¼ cup fresh orange juice

• Pinch of kosher salt

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces

Recipe

Chocolate Crust

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a food processor, pulse chocolate grahams until finely ground. Pour sugar and melted butter, pulse until mixture resembles wet sand.

3. Place mixture into tart pan and press evenly into the bottoms and sides of the pan. Blind bake the crust by placing a piece of parchment paper, or aluminum foil on top of the crust. Pour in pie weights, or dried beans.

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes

5. Carefully remove the parchment/aluminum foil with the weights, or beans, and allow to cool.

Filling

1. Bring 6 oz. cranberries, 1 cup granulated sugar, and ¼ cup water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high. Reduce heat; simmer until cranberries burst and most of the liquid evaporates, 12–15 minutes. Let cool.

2. Purée in a blender until very smooth.

3. Cook cranberry purée, egg, egg yolk, orange zest, orange juice, salt, sugar, and 1/2 tsp. lime zest in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.

4. Stir with a rubber spatula and scrape down sides of bowl often, until curd thickens and coats spatula, around 10 minutes (might take a few minutes longer). Let cool until just warm.

5. Using an electric mixer ,or whisk, beat curd.

6. Add butter a piece at a time and incorporate after each addition until curd looks lighter in color and texture. Pass through a sieve, then scrape into crust and chill until firm, at least two hours 2 hours.

Cranberry Topping

1. Bring ½ cup granulated sugar and ½ cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add 4 oz. cranberries and cook until barely starting to soften, about 1 minute.

2. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cranberries to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Chill until no longer sticky, 20–30 minutes.

3. Toss remaining ½ cup granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp. lime zest in a small bowl. Toss cranberries in lime sugar.

4. Top tart with cranberries as you like.

Apple Galette

Happy Fall!

Nothing screams Fall more than the smell of a nice apple dessert coming out of the oven! This apple galette is one of my go to recipe because of how delicious and effortless it is to make.

It's one of the simplest desserts to make, thanks to store bought puff pastry! During the holidays, we are all scrambling to make so many dishes that this recipe is a great substitute for when an apple pie is just too much to make!

From the golden pastry crust, to the warm spiced apples in the center, you won’t even think twice about the missing apple pie!

This galette is perfect to make when apples are in season ,but is also great when made with pears, and even stone fruit!

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Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

• 2 - 3 large apples, peeled and sliced

• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

• 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 2 tbsp. muscovado sugar

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the puff pastry into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a parchment paper lined sheet pan.

3. In a medium sized bowl, toss the peeled, cored and sliced apples with lemon juice, flour, sugar, and spices. Toss until all the apples are coated.

4. To assemble, arrange the apple slices evenly in the middle of the dough, leaving a border.

5. Fold edges of dough over filling, tucking and overlapping as needed.

6. Beat the egg, and brush the crust with the egg wash, and sprinkle the muscovado sugar over the egg wash.

7. Bake for 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

8. Serve with ice cream

Salted Walnut Chocolate Blondies

Blondies are having a big moment in my kitchen right now. They are great for a quick sweet treat and also a great portable dessert that serves a crowd! What I like most about these blondies is how versatile they are. I am a fan of both chocolate and nuts in my dessert, but for those who think putting nuts in blondies or brownies is a sin, feel free to omit them. These blondies are a great balance of salty/sweet, the sweetness of the brown sugar and chocolate is cut by the flakey sea salt in and on top of these blondies!

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Ingredients 

• 2 cups of all- purpose flour

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted

• 2 cups brown sugar

• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder

• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, plus more for garnish

• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

• 2 eggs, room temperature

• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

• ½ cup of toasted walnuts, chopped

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, and line the pan with parchment leaving an overhang, and butter parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. In another bowl, whisk the melted butter, and brown sugar until combined. Add the vanilla and eggs. Whisk until combined.

4. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Do not overmix.

5. Fold in the toasted walnuts and chocolate.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Using an offset spatula, smooth the batter into an even layer and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to completely cool before cutting.